§ 26. Dr. D. Johnsonasked the Minister of Health if he will abolish the prescription charge in respect of a specified list of essential drugs.
§ Mr. PowellNo, Sir.
§ Dr. JohnsonWill my right hon. Friend look into this matter at greater length than he has indicated by his reply? Would not what is suggested relieve the present situation whereby the only people who are contributing financially to the Service are those who are really ill? Would it not be better if my right hon. Friend could find some way of replacing these contributions by contributions from people who use the Service for minor reasons? I appreciate the difficulties, but will not my right hon. Friend look very seriously into this matter?
§ Mr. PowellThe brevity of my reply is no measure of the length of consideration given to the Question. However, I think that to attempt to distinguish between essential and non-essential drugs would cause many more difficulties than it would remove.