§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if, when drugs are withdrawn for safety reasons, he will seek publicly to advise patients taking the drugs to discuss the position with their general practitioners.
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§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWe have issued such advice from time to time in the past and we will do so again in future in appropriate cases.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will ensure that pharmacists do not lose money by returning stocks of drugs that are withdrawn for safety reasons; if he will clarify the line of responsibility for recalling stocks of such withdrawn drugs; and if he will take steps to monitor whether the recall procedure is quickly and efficiently carried out when such drugs are withdrawn.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeRefunds for returned stocks of drugs are a matter for arrangement between manufacturers and pharmacists. I understand that as a rule the manufacturer of a withdrawn drug will make arrangements to allow credit to pharmacists for any unsealed packets. There is also an allowance in pharmacist's remuneration for "dead stock" which includes drugs not used due to tack of demand or for any other reason, such as withdrawal. Where a drug has to be withdrawn from pharmacies for safety reasons, responsibility for the withdrawal lies with the manufacturer concerned but we would expect the necessary arrangements to be completed as soon as possible. As to monitoring the recall of drugs, I announced in the House on 20 February at columns 565–69 that the extent to which withdrawn drugs are being dispensed will be examined.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services on how many occasions in the last 10 years there have been complaints to his Department of drugs that have been withdrawn for safety reasons being prescribed by general practioners; and what action was taken in each case.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeApart from the recent DailyMail article about the continued prescribing of Zomax, Zelmid, Osmosin and Flosint, we are not aware of any such complaint.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will now monitor and publish the annual number of prescriptions issued for drugs withdrawn for safety reasons.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWe are now investigating the continued prescribing of certain drugs recently withdrawn on grounds of safety and we will make a further statement on the outcome. The Committee on Safety of Medicines has also indicated that it will monitor the prescribing over the next year or so of products containing phenylbutazone.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many research centres (a) have worked and (b) are now working on the problem of restricting the supply of drugs withdrawn for safety reasons.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWe are not aware of any research that has been or is being undertaken in this field in the United Kingdom.