An investigation has been started after a woman was refused contraceptive pill because it was against the pharmacist's religion to issue them.

A female chemist at Lloyds pharmacy in Duke Street, Sheffield, denied Janine Deeley, 38, her routine prescription of the medicine.

The female took Deeley, mother-of-two, into a private area and told that she would not be given the pills on religious grounds but she could come back the next day to buy them, when a different pharmacist was working.

The Dutch Health Ministry has intended to sell back its 21 million unexploited H1N1 flu vaccine doses, as the Government doesn't find its requirement anymore.

The Health Ministry has been advancing to GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis for the selling back those doses.

However, the Ministry has refused to provide the exact details of the cost of these doses, as of now.

When the Swine Flu Pandemic was at its peak, the Dutch Government had ordered more than 34 million doses of the tamiflu.

Drug firm Reckitt Benckiser could face a fine of £750million, as it has been accused of using its power to rig the market by stopping GPs giving out cheaper drugs, especially the heartburn medicine Gaviscon.

Reckitt could be fined tens of millions of Pounds and be forced to pay up to £40m to the National Health Service.

Anglo-Swedish drugs giant AstraZeneca announced on Tuesday that it would pay 505 million pounds to HM Revenue & Customs to settle a long-running tax-row.

AstraZeneca had been entangled in a tax dispute over transfer pricing with the HMRC for the last 15 years.

The drugs firm would pay 350 million pounds in March this year, while the rest amount will be paid in March 2011.

After settling a 15-year dispute with U. K. tax authorities, drug manufacturer AstraZeneca PLC raised its 2010 earnings.

AstraZeneca will pay £505 million ($781.7 million) in two installments to resolve the so-called "transfer pricing" claims dating back to 1996. Transfer pricing refers to the pricing of assets, services and funds transferred within an organization.

It plans to release part of its revenue to deal with the U. K. settlement.

Shire, Britain's third-largest drugs firm, reported better-than-expected fourth quarter results, accounting for 23% rise in it and predicted a return to profit growth in 2010. The robust performance has made its shares to register to a new nine-year high.

The shares leapt 60p to 1370p and hit 1414p during a frenetic period of trading.

It revealed that its earnings for the final three months of 2009 advanced a stellar 30 per cent to £203million.

British drug maker Shire PLC announced on Friday that its fourth-quarter net profit climbed year-on-year 23 per cent to $174.3 million, driven mainly by the strong sales of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder treatment drug Vyvanse.

The British group expects revenue to grow again in 2010 as it has plans to launch six new drugs this year.

Revenues from Vyvanse alone jumped more than expected 41 per cent to $145 million during the final three months of last year.