Medicines (Parallel Exports)

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Health – in the House of Commons at 2:30 pm on 30 March 2010.

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Photo of Mark Simmonds Mark Simmonds Shadow Minister (Health) 2:30, 30 March 2010

I acknowledge that this is a complex issue, and that it has been exacerbated by the weak pound and the Government's renegotiation of the prescription pricing regulation scheme. However, parallel exporting has resulted in a shortage of nearly 50 medicines in the UK, including those needed for the treatment of cancer and transplant patients. The issue first arose in 2008, and the number of export licences has grown exponentially since then. Why has it taken the Government so long to begin to address this serious issue, and why does the Minister not insist that patients must come first and introduce tighter controls on access to medicine export licences?