Media reports: UK Rx top-up ban set to end

The ban on UK patients paying out-of-pocket for prescription drugs that are not covered by the National Health Service (Marketletters passim) looks set to be lifted, according to local media reports. Top-ups have existed for years, however, the Labour government last year allowed the NHS to deny treatment to people who obtained medicines privately. Health Secretary Alan Johnson will publish guidance from Michael Richards, the UK's "Cancer Czar," in early November, the Daily Telegraph reports.