Written Question·Department of Health and Social Care·UIN 8740

Pharmacy: Community Health Services

Tabled: 11 October 2024

Answered: 18 October 2024

Question

Rebecca Smith

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing community pharmacists to substitute prescription medication for generic alternatives in cases of medicine shortages.

Answer

Karin Smyth

If the generic name is written on the prescription, pharmacists can dispense any supplier’s version of that product. However, where the prescription is written for a brand or a supplier, then the pharmacist is required to supply that specific product. Gen...

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