All quite sickening!

[Guest guest]

Hi Everybody - and especially .

I was very excited when I found the NHS

serious fraud squad investigators were considering an examination of the supply

and pricing of certain drugs, top of the list were beta-blocker atenolol, hypothyroidism pill thyroxine, and hypertension

pills bendrofluazide and frusemide. So excited was I that I sent the investigators

of the serious fraud squad a copy of the TPA-UK complaint in case the information

would be of help to them in their examination… the following was written

in 2005 - http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2005/jun/02/health.medicineandhealth…

I

know you were " salivating " at possible consequences of this , it

was enough to make anybody salivate…but our excitement was short lived. The

following is a continuation of the story. All quite sickening - the whole thing

shrouded in secrecy as you can see. As of 11th October the SFO applied

for leave to appeal and that's the latest I believe.

Guardian

Home Pages

Fraud

office's biggest case rejected by judge: Drug firms and executives cleared of

NHS price-fixing Prosecutors will appeal but accept 'serious blow'

Simon

Bowers

503

words

12 July 2008

The

Guardian

The biggest case

brought by the Serious Fraud Office, against an alleged conspiracy to defraud

the NHS of millions of pounds by price-fixing, has been thrown out after

more than six years of investigation and costs estimated at pounds 40m.

Senior insiders

at the office last night accepted the judgment was a " major blow " to

its credibility, reeling from an exodus of senior prosecutors, a critical review

by New York prosecutor De Grazia, and a snub from the former attorney

general over its handling of the BAE inquiry. The SFO said it would

appeal against the decision as soon as possible.

But one of five

defendant companies, Goldshield, claimed victory yesterday. In a statement to

investors it said the SFO had spent millions on a futile case.

Goldshield's chairman, Hellawell, a former government drugs tsar

and one-time chief constable of West Yorkshire police, said: " We feel

strongly the case should never have been brought. It has been an appalling

waste of money for the taxpayer. "

The decision of

Judge Pitchford at Southwark crown court in London will also come as a relief

to nine drugs industry executives also named as defendants.

The firms were

accused of conspiring to fix the price and supply of some of the most commonly

prescribed NHS drugs, penicillin-based antibiotics, and the

blood-thinning drug warfarin in the 1990s. An estimated pounds 38m has been

paid by the firms in civil court settlements with the NHS, in each case

without admitting liability.

Price-fixing did

not become a statutory offence until the Enterprise Act 2002, so prosecutors

took the high-risk decision six years ago to launch Operation Holbein, as the

case became known, using the common law offence of conspiracy to defraud, the

first time this had been attempted.

In March a House

of Lords ruling in a separate case found cartels could not be prosecuted using

a such a charge unless there were aggravating factors. Aware of the

implications for the SFO's case, the ruling suggested an amended Holbein

indictment might be put. Yesterday, Justice Pitchford threw out this

indictment. His reasons cannot be reported.

Mr Justice

Pitchford refused permission to appeal; he also kept in place a contempt order

on reports of proceedings while the SFO sought leave to appeal in

another court. Subject to such an appeal, the judge said the indictment would

be quashed.

Morale at the SFO

has hit an all-time low. The departure of popular director Wardle

precipitated an exodus of a third of top prosecutors, including his deputy,

Kellock. A number are believed to have left after the De Grazia review

found a " complaint culture " , unfocused investigations, and the burden

of " prosecutors fighting disclosure's war of attrition " . The attorney

general, Lady Scotland, rejected De Grazia's plan for relaxing disclosure

requirements.