"A cross-party group of Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green and Scottish Nationalist MPs is meeting on Wednesday evening to discuss how to compel Wes Streeting, the health secretary, and Peter Kyle, the business and trade secretary, to publish the government's assessment of how the deal could affect the UK. It has been organised by the ex-Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell."
"McDonnell said: There are real worries that the US/UK deal will result in significantly higher drug costs, which will in turn result in resources being drawn from the investment in NHS services. The government has a responsibility to publish a full impact assessment of the deal on the NHS budget and services. He wants ministers to commission a separate open and transparent independent impact assessment of the deal, to ensure that full details of the potential implications become public."
Ministers face growing pressure to end secrecy around the US-UK medicines agreement and to publish its impact assessment. Under the agreement the UK will pay more for new medicines and allow the NHS to spend more on life-extending treatments in return for British pharmaceutical exports avoiding US tariffs. Health experts warn the deal could cost the UK government and the NHS billions extra per year by 2035. A cross-party group of MPs seeks publication, an independent open impact assessment, a Commons debate and select-committee inquiries into how the deal was reached and its consequences. The department of health and social care and the science, innovation and technology secretary maintain that the net extra cost will be much smaller.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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