Special Obtain

In the UK Pharmaceutical business a Special Obtain is a product which is listed in the Chemist and Druggist Directory or Drug Tariff which is not stocked by the mainline wholesalers.
Typical items are:
In June 2013 the Daily Telegraph infiltrated reporters into the annual Pharmacy Congress to investigate malpractice in the market for Specials. These products are generally individually priced. In November 2013 the paper reported that "The prices of more than 20,000 drugs could have been artificially inflated, with backhanders paid to chemists who agreed to sell them" and that NHS Protect had mounted an investigation.