Specials are in the news again. A series of articles in The Times on May 25, which were picked up by the BBC, claimed the NHS is spending as much as £30 million a year paying high prices for unlicensed medicines that are available cheaply elsewhere.

In a separate development, the Department of Health has announced in an answer to a parliamentary question that, under the Health Service Medical Supplies (Costs) Act 2017, it is finalising the Regulations which are expected to be laid and come into force later this summer.

"The Information Regulations include requirements in relation to special medicinal products which will ensure that the Government obtains information from all manufacturers and importers. This information will make the reimbursement arrangements for the most commonly used special medicinal products more robust.

"However, where there are concerns about an individual price, it will also enable us to request from suppliers’ information on the costs of supplying a product", Lord O’Shaughnessy said on May 22.