GPs who dispense their own drugs are costing the NHS millions by prescribing more expensive medicines that turn them a profit, a study has concluded.
Family doctors who effectively run their own pharmacy businesses are up to five times as likely as colleagues to prescribe expensive branded drugs.
The researchers called for reform of “antiquated” drug distribution and better NHS controls on conflicts of interest after finding some of the first evidence that doctors will change what they prescribe if given a financial incentive to do so.
While high-street pharmacies handle most prescriptions, about one in eight GP surgeries have in-house dispensaries, mainly in rural areas where patients would find it harder to get hold of medicines.
The NHS pays pharmacists and dispensing GPs a
