It has come as no less than any terrible shock for the non-British patients, who are being forced to pay 12 times higher amount for the same medicines for which their British counterparts are paying certainly very less.

It is becoming really difficult for the authorities to understand why the medicines are being sold at higher amounts by drug firms to the HSE than the UK-based NHS.

The answer for the above question is the controversial deal that is still struck to get sanction by the Department of Health.

According to the reports, HSE is selling the widely used Plavix blood-thinning medication for _37 whereas the British people are paying only _3 for the drug. The case has gone worst especially for the generic medicines, which are now opened to be copied and produced by rival firms. A two-year-old deal is still struck by the Department and thus are the manufacturers openly charging the HSE up to 98pc more than the NHS.

With the opening of the above news, the government has immediately come under the pressure to put an end to the practice. Irish Nurses and Midwives Organization (INMO) also claims that paying higher sums for the drugs leaves them with very less money to spend upon health thus it is important to take an early action in this regard.