Reckitt Benckiser has been fined £10.2 million after admitting abuse of its dominant position in Britain's National Health Service (NHS) for the supply of its heartburn medicine Gaviscon.
The fine was reduced from £12 million to reflect the British consumer goods group's admission and decision to co-operate with Britain's competition watchdog, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the OFT said.
Reckitt admitted infringing British and European competition law by withdrawing and delisting Gaviscon original liquid from the NHS prescription channel in 2005, meaning that when doctors searched for the product under its brand name the system failed to supply the potentially cheaper generic name.
The OFT's allegation was that Reckitt withdrew NHS packs of Gaviscon original liquid from the prescription channel after the product's patent expired but before the publication of the generic name for it, so more prescriptions would be issued for its alternative product, Gaviscon advance liquid.
"Vigorous competition between firms supplying the public sector is vital to ensure taxpayers get the best value for money," OFT chief executive John Fingleton said.
Reuters