§ 2. Dr. Summerskillasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will exclude the promotion of medicines from being tax-deductible as a business expense.
§ Dr. SummerskillWill the Financial Secretary bear in mind that the Sainsbury Committee concluded that the drug industry spends too much money on the promotion of medicines and is excessive in its promotional practices? Does not the industry spend more on advertising than on research? Does not making the promotion of medicines tax-deductible as a business expense encourage this practice?
§ Mr. JenkinThe only relevance of the tax system is that expenses, to be allowable, must be necessarily incurred in earning profits. The hon. Lady has raised very much wider implications which seem to be for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Services.
§ Dr. StuttafordIs my hon. Friend aware that less than 1 per cent. of the total N.H.S. bill is spent on information services by the pharmaceutical industry and that this 1 per cent. includes a very large subsidy to the medical journals, both learned and otherwise, and if we lost those the medical profession and patients, too, would be very much worse off?
§ Mr. JenkinMy hon. Friend knows much more about these things than I do.