§ Mrs. Iris RobinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the availability of statins in the NHS. [173609]
§ Angela SmithA range of medicines classified as 'statins' are available to patients on health service prescription, and will remain so.
In addition, it was announced on 12 May 2004 that Ministers had accepted the advice of the expert Committee on Safety of Medicines, that one particular brand of simvastatin in a 10 mg dose, Zocor Heart-Pro, should become available to people with a specific risk of heart disease, without prescription and supplied under pharmacist supervision. This will happen here from July 2004.