The UK House of Commons report on the influence of the pharmaceutical industry: lessons for equitable access to medicines in Australia

Abstract

This paper examines the recent UK House of Commons Health Committee report on the Influence of the Pharmaceutical Industry in relation to its findings and recommendations concerning access to medicines, and in particular the continuance of cost effectiveness or reference pricing. This mechanism of bargaining down the price of drugs on social justice grounds recently has been targeted by the US Department of Commerce as an unjustifiable non-tariff barrier to trade that should be eliminated in all OECD countries. Concerns have been raised that certain provisions in the AUSFTA may have been designed to achieve this end, in defiance of norms of democratic legitimacy, moral responsibility and the international right to health. Here we examine some implications of the UK House of Commons Report for the PBS in Australia.