Burnham urged to ditch ‘dangerous’ UK-US NHS drug deal

Exclusive: health groups call on expected next prime minister to rip up agreement, which analysis suggests could lead to 229,000 excess deaths by 2036

UK politics live – latest updates

Andy Burnham is being urged to scrap the controversial UK-US trade deal on medicines as health organisations and doctors’ groups warn it is “dangerous” and prioritises pharmaceutical company profits over the lives of NHS patients.

Ministers have defended the agreement, signed last December, as a way of helping British drug exports to the US avoid tariffs, and giving patients access to potentially life-extending drugs that would otherwise be denied.
Continue reading...