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Written question asked by Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench) on Monday, 9 March 2026, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Monday, 23 March 2026. It was answered by Baroness Merron (Labour) on Monday, 23 March 2026 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Finasteride and Isotretinoin

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government how many NHS prescriptions for (1) isotretinoin, and (2) finasteride, have been issued in each year since 2014.

Answer

The Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) provides the total number of prescription items of each medicine dispensed in the community in England. The following table shows the total number of items in each calendar year from 2014 to 2025 that have been dispensed in England:

Period

British National Formulary Chemical Substance

Isotretinoin (1306010M0/1306020J0)

Finasteride (0604020C0/1309000W0)

2014

78,837

2,717,411

2015

84,173

2,954,990

2016

87,505

3,176,498

2017

82,026

3,360,103

2018

69,040

3,564,023

2019

76,223

3,762,144

2020

59,541

3,864,669

2021

76,675

3,900,062

2022

70,196

4,052,091

2023

70,447

4,230,844

2024

64,502

4,463,271

2025

63,594

4,507,807


This is based on the information within the PCA for the British National Formulary chemical substance of Isotretinoin and Finasteride.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL15306
Session
2024-26
Subjects
Isotretinoin Finasteride
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk