BANKRUPT BANKER
OFT fines Reckitt £10m for Gaviscon market abuse - Business News, Business - The Independent
Saturday 16 October 2010
OFT fines Reckitt £10m for Gaviscon market abuse - Business News, Business - The Independent: "Reckitt Benckiser was slapped with a £10.2m fine by the Office of Fair Trading yesterday for abusing its dominant market position in relation to the National Health Service.
The maker of pharmacueticals and domestic products was penalised after it admitted that it unlawfully stopped supplying Gaviscon Original Liquid, a heartburn treatment, after its patent had expired. The effect was to boost sales of the similarly named Gaviscon Advance Liquid, whose patent does not expire until 2016 – a move that is banned under competition law.
Where a branded medicine's patent has expired and a generic name has been assigned to it, doctors can use software to search for the brand and then provide patients with a so-called 'open prescription', which allows pharmacies to choose whether to dispense the relevant brand, or a cheaper alternative.
Reckitt's action blocked GPs from prescribing a cheaper generic version and ensured more prescriptions for Gaviscon Advance Liquid."
