Should the UK-US medicine pricing agreement have an independent audit?
The UK-US pharmaceutical pricing arrangement, finalised in April 2026, requires the UK to increase NHS spending on new medicines from 0.3% to 0.6% of GDP by 2036 and raise net prices by 25% from April 2026. It secures zero US tariffs on UK pharmaceutical exports for three years. In mid-September 2026 six parliamentary committees wrote to the National Audit Office requesting a rapid investigation into its costs and value for money after the government withheld a full impact assessment despite an estimated £1 billion short-term cost to the NHS.
20 Opinions
This one slipped past me! why on earth would a government commit to such a blatant threat by a nation with which it shares a 'special relationship', especially when the leader of that nation cannot be trusted to maintain a consistent policy of his own. If true, then this would seem to be a shocking failure by HMG bordering on betrayal and of course it should be audited.
Yes the Government can have there own audit but this should still be subject to scrutiny whoever is in Government an independent audit would be appropriate.
For context, the US Govt thinks the cost of new drugs need to be shared more fairly with the rest of the world as, at the moment, US taxpayers pay for most of the R&D. Plus the NHS was on a decent deal for volume unbranded drugs. So this is a trade deal. Calling on the NAO to review it really misses the point. It's just performative busy work by MPs with Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Literal waste of money. Be glad the US isn’t extracting more from us at this point.
Governments habitually lie & deceive the public about what exactly they concede in trade negotiations particularly as they never want to take responsibility for their decisions and hope time will protect them. Much so called Parliamentary scrutiny is pathetic as many. MPs are not intellectually up to asking the right probing questions and follow ups to answers. We need to properly hold the Executive & particularly Civil Servants to account with sanctions.
Proper, independent scrutiny is never a bad thing.
Independent audits are always good
The NHS exists to treat patients, not serve as a corporate piggy bank for US pharma giants. If this deal genuinely represents good value for taxpayers, ministers shouldn't fear opening the books.
We should scrap it all together.
An independent audit would add more cost to the agreement. The problem here is if UK does not accept higher costs then where will we get the drugs and medicines needed? However we should use this time to invest in UK based production. I wonder if this would have been so necessary if we had easier access to a market on our doorstep?