Medicine prices rocket

PATIENTS risk being left without medicine this Christmas due to price rises facing pharmacists.

Wholesale prices for common drugs including migraine medication and steroids have rocketed in the past few months, say chemists, with some more than quadrupling.

But the amount high-street pharmacies are being reimbursed by the NHS has lagged behind.

Now, increasing numbers of chemists are running out of stock – but not buying in more, saying it would soon leave them bankrupt. Dr Leyla Hannbeck, Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies chief executive, said: ‘A typical pharmacy faces losing tens of thousands of pounds a month if it continues to purchase these drugs.’

Drug-makers say raw material shortages and the energy crisis have forced up production costs.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said it was working ‘at pace to review the concessionary price arrangement’.