Third World 344-INDEX

For the Third Edition, a number of new and updated sources were used, including the latest edition of The Merck Index.2 Extensive use has been made of the US, British, German, and world patent literature with regard to the process information. 

The U.K. pharmaceutical industry is the fourth largest exporter of drugs in the world and the third leading export industry in the United Kingdom (22). How much of this success is due to the PPRS is a matter of conjecture, but the results are at least consistent with the second goal of the scheme. Whether British drug prices have been controlled by the system is also unclear. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry reports that the U.K. retail price index increased by 29 percent between 1984 and 1989, while the pharmaceutical price index increased by only 22 percent. However, the Economist reported that drug prices outpaced the national inflation rate by more than 4 percent for the same time period (1 17). 

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