§ Mr. Mike Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will invesigate whether the current trial being mounted by Messrs. CIBA Ltd. in which doctors are asked to transfer patients from Trasicor (Oxprenolol) to Slow Trasicor is promotional in its operation; whether acceptance of the offer of a calculator to the doctors involved would be a breach of their NHS contracts; and how long Messrs. CIBA Ltd.'s patent on Trasicor has to run.
§ Mr. MoyleI will investigate the circumstances under which the CIBA Ltd. trial on Trasicor and Slow Trasicor is being conducted. The company has been asked to send copies of the protocols and other documents relating to the trial to my Department. The patent for Trasicor (Oxprenolol) is due to expire in August 1981. I will write to my hon. Friend when I have more information.