§ Major Beamishasked the Minister of Health if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT a table consolidating the conclusions reached in the two official investigations, details of which were published in May, 1955, and April, 1956, into the comparative costs of national formulary and proprietary preparations ordered on National Health Service prescriptions, simply showing the total number of proprietary preparations costed, and what total percentages of these were cheaper
Date of statement Number of proprietary preparations costed Cheaper than standard equivalent (Note 1) Same cost as standard equivalent No equivalent (Note 2) Per cent. Per cent. Per cent. May, 1955 … … … 312 22 2½ 47½ April, 1956 … … … 326 20 2 51 NOTES: 1. In the great majority of these cases the ingredient cost of the proprietary preparation is higher than that of the standard preparation. The lower total cost is due to the basis on which chemists' dispensing fees are distributed. 2. A few of these preparations have been classified by an independent advisory committee as of proved therapeutic value, but not yet standard, and a few have not yet been considered. The majority have been classified as not therapeutically superior to standard preparations.