THERE appears to be a price war going on in local pharmacies.

My wife and I are both pensioners and have been using soluble tablets containing 500mg paracetamol and 8mg codeine, in preference to aspirin or ibuprofen.

In the past we have been able to purchase these in packs of 100 tablets from both supermarket and private pharmacies across the town. They have gradually risen in price to £6.50, which is still below the standard prescription charge.

We considered that by paying for them ourselves we were “doing our bit” to reduce the costs of the NHS.

Two weeks ago these “bulk packs” became prescription only and it is now only possible to purchase packs of 32 maximum at a cost which varies between £2.92 at a supermarket, and up to £3.99 at a pharmacy. This works out at £12.46 for 100 “own-brand”

instead of £6.50.

I received advice to visit the doctor and have this medication placed on repeat prescription.

Instead I decided to query this by emailing a private pharmacy to query the reason behind these changes.

They replied that the Medicines and Healthcare product Regulatory Agency have recently issued guidelines around the sale of over the counter products containing codeine like Co-Codamol.

They have requested that all packs with a pack size greater than 32 are no longer sold.

This decision has been taken due to the risk of addiction and misuse.

The question I raise is whether or not the manufacturers are having a price war or operating a price cartel? Or are the pharmacies are taking advantage of the changes in NHS regulations to deliberately increase their profits, at the expense of those who might need over the counter medication?

John Rennison Vayro, Hartlepool.