§ Ms. PrimaroloTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individual general practitioners prescribed methadone in the last year.
§ Dr. MawhinneyMethadone is listed under three therapeutic categories of drugs within the British National Formulary. The number of general practitioners who prescribed methadone for each therapeutic category in England during 1991 is given in the table.
Number Antitussives 2,236 Analgesics 2,293 Used in drug dependence 6,549 Notes
1. The information provided is from Prescribing Analysis and Cost data collected by the Prescription Pricing Authority.
2. The Misuse of Drugs (Notification of Supply of Addicts) Regulations 1973 stipulates a single notification of a suspected addict every twelve months to the Home Office Index of Addicts from each practice. It will therefore not be possible to make a meaningful comparison between the above figures and the number of notifications of drug addicts collected by the Home Office.