§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the prices in the United Kingdom of (a) Ventolin Inhaler, (b) Adalat 10 mg.,(c) Indocid 25 mg. capsules, (d) Aldomet 250 and 500 mg. and (e) Dixarit; and what information he has about the prices of these drugs in other European countries.
§ Mr. Geoffrey FinsbergThe current NHS trade prices in the United Kingdom are as follows:
£ Ventolin Inhaler 3.00 Adalat 10 mg capsules × 100 12.31 Indocid 25 mg capsules × 100 5.72 Aldomet 250 mg tablets × 100 506 Aldomet 500 mg tablets × 100 9.90 Dixarit tablets × 100 5.23 Differences in currency exchange rates, pack sizes, presentations, VAT, discount rates, and so on, make true comparison of prices in other European countries unreliable, but on the best information available to the Department an indexation of prices produces the followng results:
ingredient cost of £977 million. This is a 3.75 per cent. increase in the number and a 13 per cent. increase in the cost—allowing for volume—over the prescriptions dispensed in 1981. It is not possible to assign the increase to any specific cause.
The figures for each month from March to December 1982 are as follows:
427W
1982 Number of prescriptions Net ingredient cost (millions) (£ million) March 28.4 84.4 April 25.6 79.2 May 24.8 78.0 June 26.2 83.4 July 26.2 84.4
1982 Number of prescriptions Net ingredient cost (millions) (£ million) August 23.4 76.9 September 25.5 83.1 October 25.6 82.9 November 26.7 86.8 December 28.0 91.1