OFT Reportedly To Question UK OTC Drug Prices

Britain's Office of Fair Trading, according to a recent spate of press reports, is set to examine Retail Price Maintenance in the over-the-counter medicines sector. RPM was abandoned on most products since the 1960s, except for drugs and books (the latter under the Net Book Agreement). And in the early 1980s RPM was abandoned on prescription medicines by agreement between drugmakers and wholesalers.

However, this revelation is not as dramatic as it sounds, according to the Proprietary Association of Great Britain. Gopa Mitra, head of public affairs at the PAGB, told the Marketletter that the OFT has been looking at RPM on books and OTC medicines for the last five years, and has said that it will not make any moves on drugs until it has decided the book issue.

The argument for retaining RPM on OTC medicines is that it ensures wide and easy access to the products. In 1970, the UK Restrictive Trade Practices Court heard evidence that the livelihood of a substantial number of independent pharmacies would be threatened if widespread discounts were offered by large general retailers of widely available and popular OTC medicines.