§ Mr. Nicholas WintertonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assistance is provided by her Department to enable the development of new regimes of medical treatment in situations where the medication involved in the new regime would be a low-cost generic product, compared with an existing regime of treatment by a highly profitable branded product; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. SackvilleThe choice of medical treatment is a matter for the professional judgment of the doctor concerned and will be determined primarily by the clinical needs of the particular patient. Only if there is a choice between two or more equally appropriate and effective medications would the doctor he expected to exercise a decision based on cost. General practitioners are kept informed of developments in treatment regimes, and comparative costs of treatment, by the British National Formulary, medicines resource centre bulletins and the drugs and therapeutic bulletin, all of which are supported financially by the Department of Health. All GPs are also routinely provided with an analysis of their own prescribing patterns and costs by the prescription pricing authority using prescribing analysis and cost data.