§ Mr. WareingTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what plans he has to ensure that general practitioners take action on the Committee on Safety of Medicine's advice in its "Current Problems" No. 21, on the danger of overprescribing benzodiazepines.
§ Mr. NewtonDoctors must exercise their professional judgment based on current knowledge in deciding how best to treat their patients. The problems of benzodiazepine therapy have been known for some time and the number of prescriptions for these drugs is falling. The advice contained in "Current Problems" No. 21 supported and added to advice doctors already had available from a variety of sources such as manufacturers' data sheets and articles in professional journals. In addition, the Department funds the distribution to doctors of independent publications including theBritish National Formulary, Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin and Prescribers' Journal which have all provided guidance on the prescribing and use of benzodiazepines. Doctors of the Department's regional medical service which monitors general practitioner prescribing will continue to take a specific interest in the prescribing of benzodiazepines.
§ Mr. WareingTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many prescriptions for the tranquilliser lorazepam were issued in each of the years 1978 to 1987;
(2) how many prescriptions were made out for (a) all benzodiazepines, and (b) lorazepam in each of the years 1978 to 1987 inclusive.
§ Mr. NewtonThe number of prescriptions for(a) all benzodiazepines and (b) lorazepam dispensed by community pharmacists in Great Britain in each of the years 1978–1986 inclusive was as follows:
Year Total yellow card reports received Total where suspected drug is a benzodiazepine including lorazepam Total where suspected drug is lorazepam 1978 11,873 201 36 1979 10,840 218 29 1980 10,179 232 31 1981 13,032 166 24 1982 10,922 226 24 1983 12,689 274 35 1984 12,163 243 20 1985 12,652 179 29 1986 15,527 143 21 1987 16,431 100 16 Notes:
The second column gives the actual number of reports received by the CSM in the calendar year. The third and fourth columns are taken from computer records.
§ Mr. WareingTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the cost to the National Health Service of the prescribing of(a) benzodiazepines, and (b) lorazepam in each of the year 1978 to 1988 inclusive.
697W
§ Mr. NewtonThe cost to the family practitioner services1 in England of benzodiazepines and lorazepam for the calendar years 1985 and 19862 were as follows:
£ million Benzodiazepines Lorazepam 1985 27.3 3.4 1986 28.2 2.7 Notes: 1 Figures are not available for costs in the Hospital and Community Health Services, as Health Authority accounts only record total expenditure on drugs. 2 The information requested is not available in the form requested prior to 1985, and is not yet available for 1987.