§ Mr. McMasterTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the prescription of(a) evening primrose oil and (b) other homeopathic medicines by the national health service.
§ Dr. MawhinneyTwo evening primrose oil preparations have been granted product licences by the Medicines Control Agency (MCA), and are available on national health service prescripton for the conditions for which they are licensed. A number of other preparations have been considered by the Advisory Committee on Borderline Substances, but the committee considers that they have no therapeutic use in the treatment of disease in the community. They are therefore included in the list of products that cannot be prescribed on the national health service.
General practitioners can prescribe any product which they consider necessary for the treatment of their national health service patients provided it is not included in that list, and provided that they are prepared to justify their prescribing, if challenged, to their family health services authority.