§ Mr. JoplingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list the occasions when the advisory committee on borderline substances has considered the efficiency of evening primrose oil over the last five years; when it next intends to consider it; and what applications he has received asking that it be permitted to be prescribed at national health service expense;
(2) how much public money has been spent on assessing the value of evening primrose oil with a view to allowing it to be prescribed at national health service expense.
§ Mrs. Virginia BottomleyThe advisory committee on borderline substances considered evening primrose oil products in November 1986, September 1987, May 1990, November 1990 and March 1991, and will do so again when it considers appropriate. Over the past year, the Department has received 16 letters on this subject. The Department has not funded research into the efficacy of evening primrose oil.