Key Summary
- Global Justice Now and Just Treatment oppose the UK-US drug pricing deal.
- They say it could forsake NICE’s independence and increase the price of medicines.
- A notice has been sent to the DHSC on behalf of the two groups.
Campaign groups Global Justice Now and Just Treatment have decided to challenge the UK’s drug pricing agreement with the United States, arguing that it threatens the independence of NICE and could push up medicine costs.
The groups say the proposed changes to how NHS treatments are approved would allow the health secretary to override NICE’s judgments.
Lawyers from Leigh Day have written to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) on behalf of the two organisations, warning of legal action if the government does not revoke the relevant statutory instrument that came into force last month.
They warned that they would seek a judicial review unless it is revoked.
Under the current system, NICE sets the threshold for NHS drug reimbursement, acting independently of ministerial control. The new plan, however, would give ministers the power to set or influence the price the NHS pays for certain medicines, effectively overruling NICE’s cost‑effectiveness conclusions.
The secondary legislation, which came into force last month, gives ministers the power to overrule NICE.
Global Justice Now director Nick Dearden told The Guardian that the government is “gambling with NHS patients’ lives in a geopolitical game with Donald Trump,” and accused ministers of scrapping a carefully calibrated system for restraining pharmaceutical prices without proper parliamentary debate.
Diarmaid McDonald, director of Just Treatment, argued that the government has refused to publish its own long‑term cost‑impact assessment for the decade‑long deal and used a fast‑track legislative process that limits MPs’ scrutiny.
Several MPs, including former health secretary Andrew Lansley, have also questioned the legality of the statutory instrument. Lansley had argued that it breaches the Health and Social Care Act 2012.
Cross‑party criticism has focused on the secrecy surrounding the agreement, including the lack of a transparent impact assessment and the government’s refusal to allow a full Commons debate.
A spokesperson from the DHSC firmly denied that the change overrides NICE’s operational framework, emphasising that its fundamental independence will always be protected.
