Off Patent Drugs Bill

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Off Patent Drugs Bill

Statement of support for the Off Patents Drug Bill by Mr Ian Ritchie, President, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. 

I am delighted to support Nick Thomas-Symonds’ Off-Patent Drugs Bill as drugs that have been proven to be clinically effective should be made routinely available to patients who need them.

Feedback from our membership suggests that there is uncertainty around the use of off-patent drugs, so the Bill will help remove the barriers to low-cost, effective treatments being repurposed and made available to people who need them.

Further, by giving a central body responsibility for relicensing, clinicians will have the confidence to prescribe these drugs on a consistent basis. This would help remove some of the financial burden on the NHS and, more importantly, save lives.

I therefore urge MPs to vote in favour of this important Bill.

ENDS

About The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh

RCSEd (www.rcsed.ac.uk) was first incorporated in as the Barber Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1505, and is one of the oldest surgical corporations in the world with a membership of over 23,000 professionals in over 100 countries worldwide. The College promotes the highest standards of surgical and dental practice through its examinations, and is also increasingly involved in the provision of surgical training and education, offering the UK’s only Faculty of Surgical Trainers, open to all those with an interest in surgical training regardless of College affiliation. RCSEd’s commercial enterprises offer conferencing and event facilities at The Playfair Building, Symposium Hall and Quincentenary Hall, and runs the Ten Hill Place Hotel.

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The College is based at Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9DW and can be reached on (0)131 527 1600 or mail@rcsed.ac.uk.

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