§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will ensure that when the commercial price of medicines is less than the standard NHS prescription charge, the commercial price is charged to patients; and if he will make a statement. [36115]
§ Mr. MaloneNo. The prescription charge has never been related either to the cost of medicines or to the cost to the national health service of dispensing them. It is an amount which successive Governments have seen as reasonable for those who can afford to do so to pay towards the costs of their medicines.