It’s time that pharmacy put its collective foot down over confusion caused by patents, says Noel Wicks

I once heard a quote that ran along the lines of ‘out of chaos comes control’ and that’s certainly how I would describe the unbearable situation pharmacists find themselves in at the moment over the generic launch of pregabalin. It seems that in the chaos generated by the patent court case, everyone is now looking to apply this control to the actions of the pharmacist.

One recent addition to the pile of letters relating to this situation was from the manufacturer writing to us to explain that we ‘need to take steps to ensure the correct product is dispensed’. They suggest that steps might include contacting the prescriber or asking the patient in order to establish the indication. This is despite the fact that the judge in the patent case specifically said that NHS England and other respective NHS bodies would be expected to meet with the manufacturer to give out guidance as a matter of urgency.

In fact, my understanding is that he also stated that pharmacists could not be expected to ask patients what they thought their diagnosis was. Interesting that, that the judge was able to grasp that concept that the patient doesn’t always present in the pharmacy or know what indications they are taking a medicine for.

Of course, rather than give out guidance and specify prescribing by brand (for patients with the remaining patented indication) NHS England remained silent for some time. I have to say this has been extremely disappointing and I’m sure that both doctors and pharmacists alike will be vocal in questioning the DH on the length of time it has taken them to speak up.

I think it also speaks volumes that it’s taken intense pressure from representative bodies,
professionals and even the manufacturers themselves to finally precipitate the official line from the DH. It seems to me that by sitting on the fence, the DH were wanting to have their cake and eat it.

This isn’t the first time pharmacy has found itself caught up in the crossfire over patents and these days it seems almost par for the course. If that is the case and we can expect this sort of chaos intensifying in the future, then perhaps it’s time that community pharmacy collectively puts its foot down about these issues.

So that being the case, should community pharmacy be refusing to do anything other than dispense what’s on the prescription? I think that’s the scenario most at the coalface would most like to see. I’m struggling to see any other option that doesn’t involve a significant amount of time and hassle for pharmacy or see us dispensing at a loss when generic pregabalin reimbursement reduces.

I suppose we can only hope that recent experiences are learned from and that future instances are handled in a more timely fashion. I guess 2015 won’t be the quiet year in pharmacy I thought it was going to be.

Noel Wicks is an independent pharmacist