Gaviscon maker to pay £10 million for antitrust law breach
19 October 2010
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Emma Barraclough, London
The UK competition watchdog the Office for Fair Trading has fined Reckitt Benckiser £10.2 million ($16 million) after the company admitted abusing its dominant position when supplying heartburn medicines to the National Health Service
In February, the OFT said that it had sent a Statement of Objections to the maker of Gaviscon alleging that the company tried to reduce competition by withdrawing and de-listing its National Health Service packs of Gaviscon Original Liquid from the state-run NHS prescription channel.
Where a patent has expired and a generic name has been assigned, NHS doctors can use their prescribing software to search for a well-known branded product and then provide patients with what the OFT calls an “open” prescription that lists its generic name.
Pharmacies can then choose whether...
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