§ Mr. Pavittasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if Fybranta is prescribable by doctors in the National Health Service; and, if so, if he will issue advice that on manufacturers' and suppliers' prices a month's treatment on ordinary bran would only cost 32p against the cost in tablet form of £2.88.
§ Dr. OwenFamily doctors in the National Health Service are free to prescribe any drug or medicine they consider necessary for the proper treatment of their patients, though they may be called upon to justify their prescribing decisions. My Department regularly issues advice to family doctors about the comparative costs of individual products and is considering, among other possible measures, the advantages of including the recently marketed Fybranta tablets in that advice. Comparative information about Fybranta tablets and bran and their costs has appeared recently in "Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin", published by Consumers' Association. Currently my Department is financing a joint experiment with Consumers' Association in which "Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin" and "Adverse Drug Reaction Bulletin" are provided free to certain doctors and to medical students in their final years. The effects are being assessed.