§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will give any figures she has on the potential annual savings to the national health service on the general practitioner drug budget if 50, 60, 70 and 80 per cent. of drugs were prescribed generically.
§ Mr. MaloneA total of 51 per cent. of all items prescribed by general practitioners are already prescribed in their generic form. No reliable estimate can be made of the savings which higher levels of generic prescribing might realise as savings depend on the differentials between the prices of branded and generic products which vary from item to item.