I am of course aware of the Off-patent drugs bill tabled by Nick Thomas-Symonds MP. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the reading on the 6th November as I was working in my constituency.
Be assured I agree that it is incredibly important to ensure that patients have access to the latest and best drugs as part of their care and treatment.
Off-label drugs, which are drugs that are used for a purpose other than that they are specifically licenced for, can already be prescribed where there is robust evidence to support their use. Off-patent drugs, which are drugs whose patent has expired and so other manufacturers may have made generic or non-branded versions of the drug, are also widely used in the NHS at present. Legislation is not required to make this happen.
I believe that existing legislation gives the NHS the flexibility to respond to the individual clinical needs of patients whilst also taking on board the latest research findings. Prescribing decisions should be a matter for doctors in discussion with their patients and guidance on this is available from a number of healthcare organisations. As such, I do not believe further legislation is necessary.
In February, Government officials held an event for interested parties on this matter to discuss what action, short of legislation, could be taken to ensure that robust evidence about new uses for existing drugs is produced, distributed and then used to inform clinical decision making. Areas were identified which required improvement, including the mapping of clear pathways for those who want to “re-purpose” drugs. I am glad that officials have been engaging with interested parties to put this into practice.
You may be interested to learn that the Government has also established the Accelerated Access Review which aims to develop ways to develop ways to speed up access to innovative drugs, devices and diagnostics for NHS patients in a cost-effective way.
There are systems in place to ensure that the NHS obtains the best value in purchasing medicines. I know that the NHS tries to derive benefits from drugs coming off patent by ensuring that there is not excessive profiteering in the sector.
In the event the Bill ran out of time and was therefore not submitted to a vote. You can find more details about the Bill by clicking on the below link:
http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/offpatentdrugs.html