On 1 July 2015, the Secretary of State for Health for England announced plans to print the indicative cost on the packs of all medicines costing more than £20 alongside the phrase “funded by the UK taxpayer”.1 In a speech that encouraged people to take personal responsibility for use of precious public resources, it was claimed such an initiative will reduce waste and improve patient care by boosting adherence to drug regimes. While recognising the need to help patients and healthcare professionals improve outcomes from the use of medicines, we have a number of concerns over the proposal to label medicines with a price tag.

We are unaware of any published outcome …