§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will now ensure that all drug products withdrawn for safety reasons are no longer available in retail pharmacies and have their supply limited to hospitals.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeIt would not be sensible to limit supplies of all drugs whose use is restricted on grounds of safety in the simple way suggested. Decisions on the 215W supply of drugs must be based on medical judgments of their characteristics and the conditions they are intended to treat.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how he intends to monitor the withdrawal of products containing phenylbutazone from retail pharmacies; and what information he has given to pharmacists and general practitioners about their withdrawal.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWe expect the companies concerned to make arrangements for withdrawal of products containing phenylbutazone and we are satisfied that they are taking reasonable steps to achieve this. The Committee on Safety of Medicines has announced that it will review the level of prescribing of phenylbutazone products in about a year's time. The chairman of the committee has also written to all doctors and pharmacists in the United Kingdom on 7 March to inform them of the licensing authority's decision to restrict the indications and supply of products containing phenylbutazone, and that stocks of the products were to be returned to the manufacturers. Copies of the letter have been place in the Library.