Oral answer to question provided on Wednesday, 23 June 2010 in the House of Lords, by Earl Howe (Conservative).

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NHS: Budget

Answer

My Lords, on an instinctive level, I completely understand the noble Lord’s concerns and I can tell him that the department has looked very carefully at this whole issue. The worry, based on research, is that labelling medicines with prices has a much more complex impact on patients’ attitudes towards their medicines than one might expect. A high or a low price on a medicine could lead to a patient doing the opposite of what one wants in terms of taking medication appropriately. Therefore, I am afraid that we have reached the conclusion that this is not something that should be pursued at the moment.