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Report: Walgreens Boots charged National Health Service £1,579 for £2 ointment

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Report: Walgreens Boots charged National Health Service £1,579 for £2 ointment

Boots UK of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. overcharged the U.K.'s National Health Service for skin ointments purchased in 2016, The Times reported Feb. 2.

The report said Boots charged the NHS £1,579 for 500 milliliters of a skin ointment that is regularly prescribed in the U.K. for £1.73. The medicine was purchased by the NHS through BCM Specials, a supplier owned at the time by Walgreens Boots Alliance, Boots' parent company. The report added that the case is among "thousands" in which the NHS was overcharged for drugs called "specials" — custom-made drugs for patients who need nonstandard medicines.

Walgreens denied the allegations and said it complied with "all regulations and legal requirements." The report cited a company spokeswoman, who said specials are made by highly trained technicians and their production process incurs high overheads reflected in the final cost.

The report, however, noted several cases in which specials were illegally used by companies to overcharge the NHS. The report also cited Claire Parker, a pharmacist and chief officer for quality at Sandwell and West Birmingham CCG, who thinks that specials are being "exploited as a loophole."