§ Mr. Paul MarsdenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health which primary care trusts authorise the use of orlistat to children in the treatment of obesity. [122407]
§ Miss Melanie JohnsonThe National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidance issued to the National Health Service states that orlistat should only be prescribed for people between the ages of 18 and 75 years. Orlistat is prescribed to children at the discretion of the local clinician and primary care trust (PCT). In 2002, 541,400 prescription items of orlistat were dispensed in the community in England. Of that total approximately 3,000 were dispensed for children.
Information is not available on how these 3,000 items for children were spread across PCTs. However, orlistat prescriptions (not just for children) were prescribed in general practitioner practices in all PCTs in 2002.