LONDON (Reuters) - The government will host a summit next month to try to sort out shortages in supplies of medicines caused by speculators exporting drugs to overseas markets where they make more profit.
Junior health minister Mike O'Brien said on Tuesday it was unacceptable that a "few unscrupulous people" were putting profits before patients and selling medicines abroad for greater gain, rather than to patients in Britain's state-funded National Health Service (NHS) as they should.
"For months I have been concerned about the potential impact on patients' health of a small number of medicines being sold abroad by speculators," he said in a statement.
"It is unacceptable that people have had to wait longer than they should have to get their medication."
Pharmaceutical industry experts say a widening price gap on some medicines, fuelled by a weak pound, is behind a shortage of some drugs in Britain, with medicines being exported elsewhere by middlemen such as wholesalers or pharmacies seeking quick, larger profits.
Pharmacies across the country have reported problems in securing supplies of dozens of prescription medicines because of the lucrative export trade.
The trade -- known as parallel exporting -- is legal under European Union law but has long been condemned by drugmakers. In the past, British drugmakers have complained about cheap parallel imports flooding into the country.
O'Brien said he was keen for different parts of the supply chain to work with the government to tackle the problem, and that ministers had already developed guidelines with the industry to make clear "the legal and ethical duties on the supply chain as well as their consequences."
"The government believes that this spirit of collaboration is the best way to further minimise the risks to patients," he said.
The summit will be held in early March, he said, and will include "all those organisations involved in the supply of medicines."
(Reporting by Kate Kelland, editing by David Cowell)
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