§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the results of the Committee on Safety of Medicines review of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are now available; and what advice to prescribers on the use, brands, or side-effects of such drugs has been given.
§ Mr. SackvilleThe safety of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs—NSAIDs—remains under review by the Committee on Safety of Medicines. The findings and recommendations of the CSM will be made public, if appropriate, through relevant channels such as the bulletin "Current Problems in Pharmacovigilance". Advice to prescribers on the use, brands and side-effects of NSAIDs is given in the product data sheets produced by manufacturers and authorised by the Licensing Authority, and in the British national formulary which the Department of Health sends free to all doctors. Articles from the CSM relating to the safety of NSAIDs have also been published in the bulletin "Current Problems", No. 16, issued in 1986 and in theBritish Medical Journal in March and May 1986. Copies of the bulletin are available in the Library.