Makers of Anadin Paracetamol win court ban

The makers of Anadin Paracetamol won an "indefinite" High Court injunction yesterday, banning the Asda supermarket chain from selling the drug at below the legal minimum price. After a two-minute private hearing, Mr Justice Brian Smedley extended the temporary order granted last week to Whitehall Laboratories.

The case followed Asda's decision to cut the price of the tablets from pounds 1.72 to 86p for 24 tablets, in contravention of Re-sale Price Maintenance (RPM) laws which set drug prices to ensure the survival of small pharmacies.

The company has now taken Anadin Paracetamol off its shelves and is selling its own-brand paracetamol at 24p - equal to 1p per tablet, compared with 7p for the Anadin. Louise Jury