§ Dr. FoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make a statement on the public health consequences of reclassifying medicines from prescription-only to pharmacy sale; and where the liability for the use of these products will lie; [47847]
(2) if he will make a statement on where the liability for the use of products newly reclassified from prescription-only to pharmacy sale will lie; [47875]
(3) if he will make a statement on the risks to public health of changes to the availability of treatments by reclassifying medicines from prescription-only to pharmacy sales. [47876]
§ Ms BlearsThe changes to the process by which the legal status of a medicine is changed (introduced on 1 April 2002), are designed to speed and streamline the procedures, halving the time taken to deliver a change from application to decision, while maintaining appropriate safeguards.
The changes to the process do not impact on the liability for a product. Where the liability for the use of a product lies will vary according to the circumstances of each individual case but will be the same for products with an existing legal status as for those which have been newly reclassified.
Patient safety remains paramount and any application to consider a change of legal status for a particular medicine will continue to require an applicant to demonstrate its safety in use, including without medical supervision, and that the patient information is suitable for the medicine to be made more widely available.
Making more medicines more widely available when it is safe to do so is a key part of the national health service objective to empower patients. Many patients are expert on their own conditions and early access to treatments for known conditions can have a significant public health benefit where early intervention would not otherwise be possible.