Asda Offers Cancer Drugs
Asda, one of the big 4 supermarket chains in the UK, which is owned by US-based Wal-Mart, says that they are going to start selling cancer drugs as not-for-profit items. This move will increase competition with other retailers in the UK that have pharmacy chains. It will also push further into debates over how accessible prescription drugs should be.
The decision from the second biggest grocer comes 2 months after the company made the decision to sell fertility medication at cost. Asda said on Thursday that they are aiming to make cancer treatments more affordable for patients.
Cancer is the UK’s second most common cause of death, with almost 300,000 individuals being diagnosed every year. The supermarket chain says that the cost of treatments are unaffordable for many, and as part of their new commitment, the lung cancer prescription drug treatment Iressa will be £2,167.71. This is £400 less than other retailers like Superdrug, Lloyds and Boots.
Asda pharmacist John Evans says that the crippling expense of paying privately for cancer treatments has forced many to spend their savings or remortgage their home to pay for the products. They are the first retailer to recognize the injustice, he continued, and the first to do something about it. They call on other retailers to follow suit, he added. After the announcement from Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco, which are both part of the big 4, announced that they would follow Asda and match their cancer drugs price.
The debate over how accessible cancer drugs should be has become rather controversial in the UK, with the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence saying that a variety of cancer treatments are too expensive for them to be available for purchase by prescription from the state health service. This has left many British patients out of luck in finding ways to fund their treatments. However, the government said in 2008 that they had plans to allow private payments for cancer drugs, as well as other costly prescriptions, through the National Health Service.