The war in Iran has caused the cost of some everyday medicines such as painkillers and cardiovascular drugs to skyrocket, pharmacists have warned.
Customers of some community pharmacies are turning up to find the price of over-the-counter medicines is changing on a daily basis, with some being charged up to 30 per cent more for paracetamol than they were in February.
One specific type of aspirin which cost £2 before the war is now costing chemists almost £10 to buy per pack – with a warning that prices will ultimately have to be passed on to consumers.
Superintendent pharmacist Ali Hussain, who runs Chigwell Pharmacy and two others in Essex, said medicine price hikes have been exacerbated by the war in the Middle East.
He said a 32-pack of paracetamol had doubled in price since the start of the year, while cetirizine, an over-the-counter medication for hay fever, was also around twice as much than it had been in January.
“We anticipate this to get worse in the coming months and will have no choice but to pass on the increases. Our wholesalers will, no doubt, start to introduce fuel surcharges to us very soon,” Hussain said.
Ashley Cohen, who has pharmacies in Halton in Leeds and Acomb in York, has already had to pass on the costs to patients.
He said: “We are changing our [over-the-counter] medicines prices on a daily basis because of the prices. It is almost like the price of fuel.
“Hayfever medication cetirizine was 19p and I am now getting it for 37p. But some suppliers are selling it for £3.”
Surges in the price of fuel as a result of the war have pushed up manufacturing and transportation costs in the pharmaceutical sector, with pharmacies hit with the higher prices for drugs.
Soaring freight costs are also impacting the cost and supply of medicines, and the NHS is particularly exposed to this as one in five NHS medicines are imported by air.
Leyla Hannbeck, pharmacist and chief executive of the Independent Pharmacies Association, which represents around 5,000 pharmacies in England and Wales, said March and April were “breaking the record” for the number of medicines that have gone up in price.
“It’s everything and anything really,” Hannbeck said. “Aspirin, for example, has jumped up really heavily. Aspirin 75g dispersible tablets… a pack of 100 has gone from £2.46 to £9.96 in March. The smaller size (28 tablets) has gone from 69p to £2.80.”
Hannbeck said while some over-the-counter allergy medicines used for hay fever have increased in price, pharmacies were being hardest hit by the increase in the cost of prescription medicines which they have a legal duty to dispense, even if it means doing so at a loss.
One of the most common strengths of co-codamol, which is used to treat aches and ailments including period pain and migraines, has increased from £4.30 to £6.70, with another strength having increased from £6.13 to £8.44, Hannbeck said.
Pharmacies generate around 90 per cent of their income from providing NHS services and dispensing NHS medicines, for which they are reimbursed at a set price.
In instances where pharmacies cannot source medicines at or below the reimbursement price outlined in the Drug Tariff, the Department of Health and Social Care can introduce a price concession at the request of Community Pharmacy England. This means pharmacies can be paid more for medicines that have soared in price – but only for the month in which the concession is issued.
In March, 230 medicines were listed on the price concessions list, up from 90 in March 2025.
Olivier Picard, pharmacist and chair of the National Pharmacy Association, said paracetamol had risen from 41p to £1.99 for a pack of 100 500mg tablets in March, before reducing to £1.09.
“The cost of paracetamol between the 15 March and the 31 March quadrupled,” he said.
Picard added that if the price goes up significantly, his customers could also face higher prices for the everyday painkiller.
“There is a risk for those limited number of medicines that are available over-the-counter, patients may have to pay more to access these medicines,” he said.
The financial pressure of dispensing medicines at a loss repeatedly for months can be too much for some pharmacies, forcing them to close. Around 1,400 have shut since 2016, according to analysis by the NPA.
Thorrun Govind, a pharmacist based in Manchester, said: “It takes so much more time trying to purchase drugs nowadays than it used to. We are unable to plan for the future because of price changes so it is a struggle.”
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