Written question asked by Mike Hancock (Liberal Democrat) on Tuesday, 31 August 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 14 September 2004. It was answered by Baroness Winterton of Doncaster (Labour) on Tuesday, 14 September 2004 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what systems are in place to monitor the amount of drugs prescribed to NHS patients which have been donated by pharmaceutical companies as promotional material.

Answer: Mr. Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what systems are in place to monitor the amount of drugs prescribed to NHS patients which have been donated by pharmaceutical companies as promotional material. [187520] Ms Rosie Winterton: The supply of samples by pharmaceutical companies is regulated under the Medicines (Advertising) Regulations 1994. These stipulate that a free sample must be of the smallest pack of a medicine available for sale, that it may only be provided to a prescriber in response to a written request and that it should be clearly labelled as a promotional sample not for resale. We expect primary care trusts to act on any local evidence that promotional material is being misused.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 424 c1504W;424 c1502W; 187520
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Drugs NHS Patients Pharmacy Monitoring Prescriptions Corporate hospitality
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk