B2 – Upper Intermediate
According to the pharmaceutical giant Novartis, NHS patients will not have the opportunity to gain access to new cutting-edge drugs due to the steep, continuous increase in drug pricing.
Read the article about UK’s NHS losing access to new innovative treatments due to failed drug pricing deals with the pharmaceutical giant Novartis.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gzk1p90q1o
Vocabulary Questions:
- What does “outlier” mean? “Mr Kahlstrom, managing director of Novartis’ UK and Ireland operations, told the BBC’s Today programme that the UK remains an outlier and patients still lose out and I think we have to be honest about that.” Use the word in a sentence.
- What does “rebate rate” in healthcare mean? “However, the actual rebate rate has risen to 23.5%, which Novartis said was more than triple the 7% rate in Germany, for example.” Use the term in a sentence.
- What does “Qaly” mean? “The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) considers medicines costing between £20,000 and £30,000 per Qaly as good value for money.” Use the term in a sentence.
Discussion Questions:
- Share your insights regarding this, “A body assesses whether a new drug is value for money before approving it for use on the NHS, but Novartis said its methods were outdated and made it harder for innovative drugs to be approved and launched.” Is it the same process in your country?
- Share your opinion on these statements from Novartis boss and UK Health Secretary, “Norvartis’ [sic] UK boss Johan Kahlstrom said costs meant the UK was “largely uninvestable”, but Streeting has vowed he will not allow firms to “rip off” taxpayers.”
- “Novartis was not considering the UK for major new investments in manufacturing, research, or advanced technology because of systemic barriers.” What might be the effect of this to the UK’s healthcare system?
- “Another drug company, Gilead Sciences, would not submit its breast cancer drug for assessment by Nice, blaming the UK for undervaluing medicines.” Do you believe the UK is indeed undervaluing medicines? Share your thoughts.
- What do you make of this, “The UK was under invested on medicines with “only 9% of the healthcare budget in the NHS” being spent on drugs compared to about 14% in France and 15% in Germany.”?