The problem with price fixing NHS drugs

Markets have a funny way of getting around behind the rational planner and biting him in the buttocks. And so it is with price controls on NHS drugs. Sure, it sounds great that we use the power and majesty of the law to keep taxpayers' money out of the hands of those rapacious Big Pharma companies. But the problem is that this is leading to there being no drugs for people to take:

Patients are being harmed and put at risk because of national shortages of some prescription drugs, doctors have warned.

Medicines currently subject to shortages include Tamoxifen for breast cancer, Naproxen for arthritis and Amiloride, used to treat heart failure and high blood pressure.

A poll of GPs has revealed that more than nine in 10 family doctors have been forced to write prescriptions for “second choice” medicines because the drug they wished to provide was out of stock.

In recent years, scores of medicines, including those for breast cancer, arthritis and schizophrenia have run low because drugs intended for British use are being diverted abroad for profit, while others have been subject to production problems.

The survey of more than 600 family doctors by GP magazine found that one in three said their patients had suffered harm as a result, or faced a longer recovery.

The background to this is that there is an absolute freedom of trade across the EU. This is what the Single Market means. And we also have the NHS insisting that it will only pay certain prices for certain drugs. Fine, volume discounts aren't a problem and, if we're to be honest about it, nor is the use of countervailing economic power as a near monopsonist argues with the monopolies that pharma companies have over their still in patent drugs. But we do get to the standard problem with price fixing. Set the price too low and you'll get a shortage of whatever it is you've set the price of. Too high and you get a glut, fix prices at what the market price would be anyway and what's the point?

Here what's happening is that the freedom of trade is bringing that iron law of one price into play. Different EU countries fix (or don't even try to fix) drug prices at different levels. So there are arbitrage opportunities to buy pharmaceuticals in one country, at that country's controlled price, and move them to another EU country where the price is higher. It is this that is causing the shortages here in the UK.

Of course, people are trying to deal with this:

Because of the shortages, the Department of Health has introduced a system of rationing, which is supposed to mean the right number of drugs are held in stock. However, the system often means particular parts of the country run low on stocks, because they are not allowed to have more than their quota of medicines.

Facepalm. If the problem is initially caused by having fixed prices too low then the solution is to raise prices, isn't it? Remove the arbitrage opportunity and there won't be any arbitrage.