Dr Mike Webberley suspended

One market dries up...find another.

Which does little for any claims that it is all about supporting transgender people.

And Mermaids might be judged for the company they keep, given they have been clearly signposting families and children in Gender GPs direction.

This is what one of the articles says about the drug pricing.

By selling medications to Mainers at prices patients pay in Britain — which negotiates drug costs under the publicly funded National Health Service — Great British Drugstore can offer steep discounts, O’Brien said.

For example, Great British Drugstore markets a pack of 28 40-milligram pills of Lipitor, a cholesterol-lowering medication, at $108.40. The same pills cost more than double that at pharmacies including CVS, Walmart and Walgreens, according to the site.

So it seems to be as you say, Needmoresleep - they're taking advantage of the NHS negotiated rates for the drugs. But the one in the example clearly isn't something you'd be able to buy for less than the cost of an NHS prescription.

Anyway, it looks as though the profits from this particular venture won't have been great, since Maine repealed the law allowing drug imports early in 2015.

bangordailynews.com/2015/02/24/health/judge-overturns-maine-law-allowing-prescription-drug-imports/

Is that about the time GenderGP was set up?

I think when you go to a chemist to have an NHS prescription filled, you can ask how much it would cost to pay privately, and pay whichever is cheapest. I tend not to but on the few occasions when I have had private prescriptions the drugs prescribed have been surprisingly cheap. A lot depends on whether they are still under patent. Drug companies have to fund their research somehow, so prices of new drugs are way higher than manufacturing costs.

(Off topic but illustration of the Webberlys fine eye for an imperfect market and the scope for a profit.)

I got antibiotics on a private prescription once (from private dentist for an abscess - ouch). Had to pay the dentist for the prescription but only paid pharmacist about £3.50 for the drugs (generic antibiotics are quite cheap).

Ah, that makes sense Need

So the prescription charge you pay doesn’t cover the full cost of the drug?

Not for an NHS prescription. It's a flat rate which may be more than the cost of a cheap generic drug, but a lot less than the cost of the drug for some others.

Any NHS managers around? How is the cost difference between the prescription cost and the cost of the drug paid for?

No. In some instances it is cheaper to buy it directly than pay prescription charges. But in many other cases the NHS is providing a huge subsidy. Plus many people don't pay charges.

I assume Dr W is writing private prescriptions for overseas patients so they pay the list price. But they do benefit from the NHS' bulk buying power.

Oh yes, prescription charge is £9 per item, a significant difference to the cost of many drugs. So in the case of the webberley’s online pharmacy who would pick up the tab for the difference? The NHS?

Sorry, I’m a bit dim about prescription medication

So the prescription charge you pay doesn’t cover the full cost of the drug?

I dont think so.

The NHS as a bulk purchaser negotiates a special price with drugs companies. Drugs companies agree to this first because they save on advertising and marketing costs, but also presumably because they want their drugs available to the UK market. It is why you get stories about children being unable to access new and innovative drugs. The delays are often because the NHS are holding out for a good price.

Drugs bought by private prescription are then also cheaper than they would be in the US. However drugs companies will not be happy about Americans buying overseas, whether in the UK or somewhere like India. It may also be that there are conditions like drugs are only available for sale on the UK market.

This is how I understand it, so happy to be corrected.

This uk prescriptions for Americans thing.

Are UK taxpayers, via the NHS, subsidising American health care?

Have I got that right?

November 2018 thread:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3411533-talk-to-me-about-David-TC-Davies

Sorry about the incorrect detail, and absolutely no desire to underestimate Venice, who has become another s/hero. The whole Millwall thing was about the time I was discovering this board.

But why David Davies, and what caused him to peak? I think the answer is in Monmouthshire. And I think it relates to "follow the money" concerns.

I am doing too much thinking this morning. David Davies stepping in to rescue the WPUK event, and then continuing, made no sense.

It wasn't WPUK, it was Venice Allen's 'We Need to Talk' meeting.

I think there's a risk here of underestimating Venice Allen's organisational ability & misrepresenting what happened.

I am doing too much thinking this morning. David Davies stepping in to rescue the WPUK event, and then continuing, made no sense. A right wing pro-Brexit MP relying on rural voters and no feminist background.

Yes, we and he are on the right side of history, but if we were to have sorted MP's into yes , no and maybe piles when deciding who to lobby he would have been a no.

Except, say, if he was already raising issues around GPs in his constituency, based on locally expressed concerns, either of patients or health professionals, but was told to back off because Mermaids and others were saying wonderful things about GenderGP and how important they were in supporting children with gender dysphoria whose own GPs would not prescribe.

Peak trans in an instant to most sensible people with some of the background revealed in this thread.

I'm not saying this is how it happened, but something obviously caused David Davies to want to shine a light on it all.

I am tempted to offer to help campaign for him. Parliament needs MPs with principle. Though not perhaps in the upcoming European elections.

I think Mumsnet should actually become a newspaper. Posts here are consistently more informative, braver, more credible and better written than most of the content of the rags on the newsstands.

Top class investigative work, you lot.

From another article about the US prescribing business:

www.mainepublic.org/post/british-virtual-drugstore-offers-maine-consumers-cheaper-prescriptions

McCall says Great British Drug Store itself violates U.K. law, which prohibits pharmacists there from filling prescriptions from doctors in the the U.S. But Great British Drug Store's Mary O'Brien says there's actually a legal work-around to that problem. "It's called shadow prescribing," she says.

Shadow prescribing works like this: A U.K. physician will review every order from Maine, and, if approved, will recreate the prescription and send it to be filled.

"Shadow prescribing". Never heard of this. Is it legal? This seems to have been Helen Webberley's part in this particular venture.

Which raises the question of why he is doing it

David Davies was interviewed last year.
During the interview he describes the levels of pressure on him not just from TRAs but also Conservative colleagues:

twitter.com/talkRADIO/status/1052203110335217664

Its alsoimportant to remember the circumstances of the lobbying of Millwall Football Club to prevent Venice Allan's 'We Need To Talk' event from taking place.

David Davies hosted the event at Westminster & so heard speeches from radical feminists including Sheila Jeffries.

He also then experienced first hand the bullying and intimidatory practices of some TRAs.

He has been making significant contributions to parliamentary discussions about the impact of housing of male prisoners in female estate prior to Karen White and was responsible for securing the Westminster Hall discussion.

I think the majority of MPs if they actually attended one of the women's meetings & listened, would start to become pro-active and increasingly aware. That's why preventing MPs from attending or hearing what's said is so important to some

Last night's WPUK meeting being a particular case in point.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3552619-WPUK-meeting-in-London-20-May-with-Meghan-Murphy-Julie-Bindel-Selina-Todd

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_rights/3396459-David-Davies-MP-speaks-out-about-harrassment-calls-for-stop-to-GRA-reform-urgent-review-involving-womens-groups#prettyPhoto

Bloody hell.

From the 2014 article shared by OldCrone, the final comment so important:

"But McCall remains unconvinced that the new site is safe for Maine consumers. Foreign online pharmacies that operate outside the purview of the FDA and state regulators provide little accountability, potentially leaving customers with no recourse if they order drugs that harm them, he said.

“You can make any claims you want online,” McCall said."

When did Dr Helen Webberley start the online business GenderGP?

For the patients and parents nothing matters more than access to meds. That much is becoming clear. They're willing to overlook everything and anything else.

I didn't realise David Davies was the Webberley's MP, makes sense why he is the one putting his head above the parapet and standing up for common sense. I wonder how many constituents, concerned still registeted lwgitimate Dr's, parents etc have contacted him in the past about the dodgy money grabbing quacks. Makes a lot of sense now, good on him!

This research is bloody dynamite. Well done you laydees.