§ Mr. Whitakerasked the Minister of Health what estimate he has made of the cost to the National Health Service during the latest convenient year of the prescription of proprietary drugs for which there are cheaper non-proprietary equivalents, including meprobamate, paracetamol, predrisolone, bendrofluazide and phenoxymethyl penicillin; and what steps he is now taking to eleminate these unnecessary costs.
§ Mr. K. RobinsonIt is rarely possible to demonstrate exact equivalence; but I estimate that there would have been a saving of a little over £1 million in the year ending 30th September, 1967 (including about £200,000 in respect of the five drugs referred to) if, where there are nonproprietary products containing the same amounts of the same active ingredients as proprietaries, the former had been supplied instead of the latter.
I use all convenient means constantly to draw the attention of doctors to the different prices of drugs.