Consumer Protection Authority Research Articles

Value-based pricing of drugs in the UK

The Pharmaceutical Price Regulatory Scheme (PPRS), launched over 50 years ago, was designed to secure safe and effective drugs for the UK National Health Service (NHS) at reasonable prices, and to promote a strong and profitable pharmaceutical industry able to develop new and improved drugs.1 On Feb 20, 2007, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the UK's independent competition and consumer protection authority, recommended to the UK Government that the PPRS should be radically reformed to deliver better value for money from the NHS drug budget and to focus business investment on drugs that have the greatest benefits for patients.

The Effects of Consumer Protection on Sales Signs, Consumer Search and Competition

Within a one-shot, duopoly game, we show that firms cannot use false in-store price comparisons to deter rational consumers from further beneficial price search in an effort to create market power. However, by introducing a consumer protection authority that monitors price comparisons, we formalise Nelson's (1974) conjecture by showing that 'middle-order' monitoring can actually facilitate the deception of fully rational consumers, to deter them from otherwise optimal search. Despite this effect, we show that no increase in monitoring can ever harm consumers thanks to a second, larger effect that improves consumer information and increases the intensity of price competition.

Nurse-midwifery and the federal trade commission

Recent efforts by the Federal Trade Commission to apply consumer protection and antitrust laws to the health care industry are discussed, with particular emphasis on those activities of interest and concern to certified nurse-midwives. FTC initiatives that have involved nurse-midwives—including interventions by the Commission before other federal, state, and local governmental bodies—have focused on three major areas to date: hospital privileges; malpractice insurance for backup physicians; and third party reimbursement. While the Commission's continued jurisdiction over these and similar activities involving the professions has been threatened in the Congress during the last several years, relevant committees in both the House and the Senate have now approved FTC reauthorization bills that would maintain its basic antitrust powers, as well as its consumer protection authority over the business and commercial practices of professionals. The Commission is indebted to the American College of Nurse-Midwives for its continued support of FTC law enforcement and intervention activities, the goal of which is to help create a more competitive health care market and to provide for greater consumer choice among qualified providers.

Protection of the consumer against unfair standard terms

The protection of the consumer against unfair standard terms is one of the most important aims of the world-wide consumer movement. The present paper gives a survey of possible means of regulation and of international trends in legislation and administrative control. It comes to the conclusion that effective consumer protection cannot be achieved by information only, but that restrictions with respect to the contents of standard term contracts are indispensable. Observance of these restrictions must be secured by an effective procedural control (mandatory authorization of standard terms in advance or at least an administrative control by consumer protection authorities).