Unlicensed medicines: the right to prescribe 'specials' and the problem of overcharging.
The Government has announced an inquiry into alleged overcharging by wholesalers and pharmacists for the supply of unlicensed medicines known as 'specials'. This article explores what specials are, a district nurse's right to prescribe specials and why they are susceptible to gross overcharging in the NHS.
Lecturer in Health Law, School of Health Science, Swansea University.
Richard
R
Griffith
D000329:Advertising / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D003152:Community Health Nursing; D016527:Drug Costs / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D004335:Drug and Narcotic Control / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D006801:Humans; D008004:Licensure; D056687:Off-Label Use / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D057184:Practice Patterns, Nurses'; D013222:State Medicine; D006113:United Kingdom