What a US trade deal could mean for drug prices

Regardless of how you voted in the EU referendum, none of us voted for skyrocketing drug prices.

This week, Just Treatment’s Diarmaid McDonald has been on the front page of the Mirror newspaper warning of the risks of a free trade deal between the US and the UK in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

During Donald Trump’s recent UK visit in June, the President confirmed that the NHS would be “on the table” in a UK-US trade deal, before backtracking after a public outcry. His ambassador has said the NHS would be “fair game” in negotiations.

So what would a free trade agreement mean for the UK? Although the rising cost of drugs is a huge problem for the NHS, we do at least retain tools which allow the NHS and government to maintain a level of control over drug prices. A free trade agreement could put even these limited mechanisms at risk.

Read the full article here to find out more about the dangers of a US-UK free trade deal and what it could mean for our NHS.

Cover photo © Gage Skidmore