§ Mr. Haynesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many prosecutions his Department has undertaken since 1980 for infringements of the Medicines Acts 1968 and 1979; and what the outcome has been of those prosecutions.
§ Mr. HayhoeSince 1980, my Department has prosecuted 19 defendants involving companies and others, for a number of offences under the Medicines Act 1968. The results of the cases are shown in the table; all prosecutions have been successful. In addition, proceedings have been started in a further five cases. Three of these involved alleged sale or supply of medicines without product licences, one the alleged incorrect labelling of a product and one the issue of an alleged misleading advertisement.
In four of these cases the facts have yet to be heard by magistrates' courts and one case has been committed by magistrates to the central criminal court.
79W
Year Magistrates court Fine £ Costs £ Sections of the Medicines Act and Regulations 1985 Billericay Person 300 50 Section 7(2) Section 8(2) Section 86(3) 1986 Dover Company 850 100 Sections 58(2), 67(2) and (4), 124(1), 8(2), 95(1) and (6), 91(2) and (3) SI 1976/1926 Persons (2) 850 n/a=Not available. *On appeal. † On appeal company.