The sleeping pills are available from Walmart for $3.96The NHS is spending as much as £30 million a year paying high prices for unlicensed medicines that are available cheaply elsewhere. The health service is routinely overpaying for bespoke or unlicensed drugs, known as specials, an analysis of more than 1.3 million payment records shows. While the NHS sets prices in a monthly tariff for about 260 specials, there are no restrictions on the price of non-tariff specials. Pharmacies are reimbursed in full for whatever they have paid to obtain them and prices for the same products differ wildly. These drugs cost the health service about £47 million last year, but it could have spent less than £17 million, payment records released under the Freedom of Information Act suggest.

Source: The Times May 25, 2018 20:48 UTC