UK Cancer Patients Charged Too Much for Medicine - Researcher

A lead author of a cost analysis study claims that cancer patients in the United Kingdom are being charged exorbitant prices for medicine behind false claims of spending on research.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Cancer patients in the United Kingdom are being charged exorbitant prices for medicine behind false claims of spending on research, a lead author of a cost analysis study told British media on Wednesday.

Dr. Andrew Hill from Leicester University told The Guardian pharmaceutical companies claim they spend most of their money on research and development, but his study has found the majority of their spending is on advertising and marketing.

"So the normal justification that high drug prices are required to sustain high R&D costs is hard to defend," Hill said.

His findings are expected to be unveiled at the European Cancer Congress (ECC 2015) scheduled to be held on September 25-29 in Vienna.

Hill said several drugs, removed by the National Health Service’s fund that pays for certain medicines earlier this month, are being sold in other countries at much lower prices.

The news comes amid a scandal in the pharmaceutical world that erupted this week. Small US biotech company Turing Pharmaceuticals was found driving up the cost of a parasitic infection drug, used by some AIDS and cancer patients, as much as 5,000 percent.

On Tuesday, the US company said it would lower the price to make sure the drug remains affordable.