Tranquillisers

Jim Dobbin

To ask the Secretary of State for Health from which advisory committees he obtains scientific advice on the use of tranquillisers. (261389)

Scientific advice on the use of tranquilisers is received from the Commission on Human Medicines.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) prescriptions and (b) in-patient prescriptions were issued for (i) each benzodiazepine and (ii) each zed drug tranquilliser in 2008. (261390)

Information on the number of prescription items dispensed in the community in England for Benzodiazepines and “z” drugs is provided in the following table.

Chemical name	Items (thousand)
Benzodiazepines—prescription items dispensed January to September 2008¹
Alprazolam	<0.1
Chlordiazepoxide Hydrochloride	195.4
Clobazam (only used for epilepsy)	117.8
Clonazepam (only used for epilepsy)	382.7
Diazepam	3,616.4
Flurazepam Hydrochloride	<0.1
Loprazolam Mesilate	78.2
Lorazepam	666.6
Lormetazepam	70.8
Midazolam	2.4
Midazolam Hydrochloride	42.6
Midazolam Maleate	2.9
Nitrazepam	878.9
Oxazepam	134.7
Temazepam	2,335.2

“Z” drugs—prescription items dispensed January to September 2008
Zaleplon	21.6
Zolpidem Tartrate	516.3
Zopiclone	3,459.5
¹ Data for the last quarter of 2008 are embargoed until the related National Statistic is published in April 2009. Source: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) system

Information on the number of inpatient prescriptions is not held centrally in the format requested.

Volume 489: debated on Tuesday 10 March 2009