Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many prescriptions for (1) finasteride, and (2) dutasteride, have been issued in the NHS in each year since 2014.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the requested information in each calendar year between 2014 and 2024, as well as between January and November 2025, and that has been dispensed in England regardless of where prescribed:
Period | Finasteride | Dutasteride |
2014 | 2,717,411 | 352,211 |
2015 | 2,954,990 | 325,232 |
2016 | 3,176,498 | 311,415 |
2017 | 3,360,103 | 294,715 |
2018 | 3,564,023 | 301,071 |
2019 | 3,762,144 | 296,300 |
2020 | 3,864,669 | 289,198 |
2021 | 3,900,062 | 275,907 |
2022 | 4,052,091 | 278,755 |
2023 | 4,230,844 | 282,205 |
2024 | 4,463,271 | 284,220 |
January-November 2025 | 4,108,900 | 259,432 |
Source: NHS Business Services Authority, Prescription Costs Analysis (PCA)
Notes:
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many yellow card reports of aphantasia (Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities code 10090610) the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency received in each year since 2021; and what medications those reports were linked to.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion meet applicable standards of safety, quality, and efficacy. The MHRA rigorously assesses available data, including from the Yellow Card scheme, and seeks advice from the Commission on Human Medicines, the MHRA’s independent advisory committee, where appropriate, to inform regulatory decisions, including amending the product information.
The MHRA has received a total of eight United Kingdom reports through the Yellow Card scheme associated with the reaction term aphantasia, from 1 January 2021 up to and including 12 December 2025. The following table shows a yearly breakdown of reports associated with aphantasia received from 1 January 2021 up to and including 12 December 2025:
Year | Number of reports |
2024 | 3 |
2025 | 5 |
Total | 8 |
In addition, the following table shows a yearly breakdown of reports received by substance associated with aphantasia from 1 January 2021 up to and including 12 December 2025:
| Year | |
Substance group name | 2024 | 2025 |
ARIPIPRAZOLE |
| 1 |
ESCITALOPRAM | 1 | 2 |
FINASTERIDE | 2 |
|
SERTRALINE |
| 1 |
VENLAFAXINE |
| 1 |
VORTIOXETINE |
| 1 |
Please note that each report may list more than one suspect drug. Therefore, the total number of reports received cannot be accurately derived from the figures presented in the above table.
It is important to note that anyone can report to the MHRA’s Yellow Card scheme and the recording of these reports in the Yellow Card database does not necessarily mean that the adverse reactions have been caused by the suspect drug. Many factors must be considered in assessing causal relationships, including temporal association, the possible contribution of concomitant medication, and the underlying disease. We encourage reporters to report suspected adverse reaction reports. The reporter does not have to be sure of a causal association between the drug and the reactions, as a suspicion will suffice.
The number of reports received cannot be used as a basis for determining the incidence of a reaction, as neither the total number of reactions occurring, nor the number of patients using the drug, is known.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 1 December (HL12276), how many Yellow Card reports of tinnitus (Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities code 10043882), broken down by the medications to which they were linked, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency received in each year since 2014.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion meet applicable standards of safety, quality, and efficacy. The MHRA rigorously assesses available data, including from the Yellow Card scheme, and seeks advice from the Commission on Human Medicines, the MHRA’s independent advisory committee, where appropriate, to inform regulatory decisions, including amending the product information.
The MHRA has received a total of 11,348 United Kingdom reports through the Yellow Card scheme associated with reaction term tinnitus, including worsening of tinnitus, from 1 January 2014 up to and including 27 November 2025. The table in the document attached provides a yearly breakdown of reports associated with tinnitus. It also provides a yearly breakdown of reports received by the substance associated with tinnitus. Please note that each report may list more than one suspect drug. Therefore, the total number of reports received cannot be accurately derived from the figures presented in the table in the attached document. The following table shows a yearly breakdown of reports associated with tinnitus received from 1 January 2014 up to and including 27 November 2025:
Year | Number of reports |
2014 | 147 |
2015 | 164 |
2016 | 230 |
2017 | 206 |
2018 | 197 |
2019 | 205 |
2020 | 212 |
2021 | 7,208 |
2022 | 1,248 |
2023 | 578 |
2024 | 495 |
2025 | 458 |
Total | 11,348 |
It is important to note that anyone can report to the MHRA’s Yellow Card scheme and the recording of these reports in the Yellow Card database does not necessarily mean that the adverse reactions have been caused by the suspect drug. Many factors must be considered in assessing causal relationships, including temporal association, the possible contribution of concomitant medication, and the underlying disease. We encourage reporters to report suspected adverse reaction reports, and the reporter does not have to be sure of a causal association between the drug and the reactions, as a suspicion will suffice.
The number of reports received cannot be used as a basis for determining the incidence of a reaction, as neither the total number of reactions occurring, nor the number of patients using the drug, is known.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many yellow card reports of (1) tinnitus (Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) code 10043882), and (2) worsening of tinnitus (MedDRA code 10048029), the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency received in each year since 2014, and what medications those reported were linked to.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion meet applicable standards of safety, quality, and efficacy. The MHRA rigorously assesses the available data, including from the Yellow Card scheme, and seeks advice from the Commission on Human Medicines, the MHRA’s independent advisory committee, where appropriate, to inform regulatory decisions, including amending the product information.
The MHRA has received a total of 11,348 United Kingdom based reports through the Yellow Card scheme associated with reaction term tinnitus, including worsening of tinnitus, from 1 January 2014 up to and including 27 November 2025. The reports received between 2014 and 2025 were for a wide range of medicinal products which include antidepressants, hormonal medicines, vaccines, antipsychotics, antibiotics, cardiovascular medicines, drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, sedatives, drugs used to treat dementia and diabetes, drugs used to treat osteoporosis, Parkinson’s disease, and pain. The following table shows a yearly breakdown of reports associated with tinnitus, from 2014 to 2025, and in total:
Year | Number of reports |
2014 | 147 |
2015 | 164 |
2016 | 230 |
2017 | 206 |
2018 | 197 |
2019 | 205 |
2020 | 212 |
2021 | 7,208 |
2022 | 1,248 |
2023 | 578 |
2024 | 495 |
2025 | 458 |
Total | 11,348 |
It is important to note that anyone can report to the MHRA’s Yellow Card scheme and the recording of these reports in the Yellow Card database does not necessarily mean that the adverse reactions have been caused by the suspect drug. Many factors must be considered in assessing causal relationships, including temporal association, the possible contribution of concomitant medication, and the underlying disease. We encourage reporters to report suspected adverse reaction reports, and the reporter does not have to be sure of a causal association between the drug and the reactions, as a suspicion will suffice.
The number of reports received cannot be used as a basis for determining the incidence of a reaction, as neither the total number of reactions occurring, nor the number of patients using the drug, is known. All fatal reports, including those reporting completed suicide, are assessed by the MHRA, and cumulative information is reviewed at regular intervals.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many yellow card reports of visual snow syndrome (Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities code 10079450) the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency received in each year since 2014, and what medications those reports were linked to.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion meet applicable standards of safety, quality, and efficacy. The MHRA rigorously assesses the available data, including from the Yellow Card scheme, and seeks advice from the Commission on Human Medicines, the MHRA’s independent advisory committee, where appropriate, to inform regulatory decisions, including amending the product information.
The MHRA has received a total of 44 United Kingdom based reports through the Yellow Card scheme associated with the reaction term visual snow syndrome received up to and including 25 November 2025. The table attached shows the yearly breakdown of substances associated with visual snow syndrome, each year from 2017 to 2025.
It is important to note that anyone can report to the MHRA’s Yellow Card scheme, and the recording of these reports in the Yellow Card database does not necessarily mean that the adverse reactions have been caused by the suspect drug. Many factors must be considered in assessing causal relationships, including temporal association, the possible contribution of concomitant medication, and the underlying disease. We encourage reporters to report suspected adverse reaction reports, and the reporter does not have to be sure of a causal association between the drug and the reactions, as a suspicion will suffice.
The number of reports received cannot be used as a basis for determining the incidence of a reaction, as neither the total number of reactions occurring, nor the number of patients using the drug, is known. All fatal reports, including those reporting completed suicide, are assessed by the MHRA and cumulative information is reviewed at regular intervals.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government when post-selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors sexual dysfunction (PSSD) was added as a yellow card reporting option; who requested it and why; and whether the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency plans to update PSSD reports made before the addition of that option with the MedDRA code 10086208.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is responsible for ensuring medicines, medical devices, and blood components for transfusion meet applicable standards of safety, quality, and efficacy. The MHRA rigorously assesses available data, including from the Yellow Card scheme, and seeks advice from their independent advisory committee, the Commission on Human Medicines, where appropriate to inform regulatory decisions.
The MHRA uses the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA) to code suspected adverse drug reactions reported by patients and healthcare professionals via the Yellow Card scheme. MedDRA is an international, clinically validated medical terminology used by regulatory authorities and the biopharmaceutical industry throughout the entire regulatory process, from pre-marketing to post-marketing safety monitoring. MedDRA is updated twice annually, and new terms can be proposed by any MedDRA users. The term Post Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD) was added to MedDRA as a lower-level term in version 24.1 which was and implemented by the MHRA as a term available to users of the Yellow Card website in February 2022 as part of routine updates.
As part of current routine MHRA processes, Yellow Card reports are not recoded to reflect the changes in the reaction terms available but remain as reported with the terms selected by the original reporter.
As a lower-level term in MedDRA, PSSD is recorded if the reporter has specifically used this term at the time of the report, and since this term can include a wide range of symptoms it would not be appropriate to recode cases not reporting this specific term received prior to 2021. All Yellow Card reports received prior to the availability of PSSD as a MedDRA term will have the individual symptoms reported coded as MedDRA terms and available for signal detection and assessment processes.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many children have been detained in adult mental health wards (1) in total, and (2) for over 48 hours, in the past year; and what estimate they have made of the cost of removing all children from those facilities.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England has confirmed that across the services, there have been a total of 12 children, all aged between 16 and 18 years old, who have been detained in adult mental health wards in the 2024/25 financial year. All 12 patients were detained for over 48 hours.
Neither the Department nor NHS England have made an estimate of the cost of removing all children and young people from these facilities.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 1 July (HL8570), whether any scientific studies authored by Michael Briggs were included in the Expert Working Group review, published in November 2017.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
An Expert Working Group (EWG) of the Commission on Human Medicines reviewed the available evidence on the possible association between hormone pregnancy tests and adverse outcomes in pregnancy. Its review considered all available scientific evidence, including information collected from a public call for evidence.
The purpose of the EWG was to ascertain whether the available data could establish a causal association between the use of hormone pregnancy tests during early pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcomes.
One publication by Briggs was considered as part of the review of non-clinical evidence of reproductive and developmental toxicity for norethisterone acetate and ethinylestradiol and is therefore referenced on page 97 of this review. This publication is not cited within the text of the report as it did not contribute towards the final paper and its conclusions.
The EWG reported its findings in November 2017 and concluded that the totality of the available scientific data does not support a causal association between the use of hormone pregnancy tests during early pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcomes.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency remains committed to reviewing any new scientific data which becomes available following the conclusion of the EWG.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to review the claims by Joanne Briggs that her father Michael Briggs, a scientist employed by Schering, had falsified his studies about the effects of Primodos, and whether they plan to take further action in response.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
An Expert Working Group (EWG) of the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) reviewed the available evidence on the possible association between hormone pregnancy tests and adverse outcomes in pregnancy. Its review considered all available scientific evidence, including information collected from a public call for evidence.
The purpose of the EWG was to ascertain whether the available data could establish a causal association between the use of hormone pregnancy tests during early pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcomes. The EWG reported its findings in November 2017 and concluded that the totality of the available scientific data does not support a causal association between the use of hormone pregnancy tests during early pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcomes.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) committed to review any new scientific data which became available following the conclusion of the EWG. Accordingly, two new CHM EWGs were established to review two new studies of hormone pregnancy tests published in 2018. The reviews concluded that they did not present evidence that was sufficient or robust enough change the scientific position since the report of the EWG was published. The MHRA also sought a further independent scientific opinion on these two studies from the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, who concluded that they have no clinical implications.
In November 2024, the publication by Danielsson et al was reviewed by the MHRA and advice has been sought from the Government’s independent advisory body, the CHM. Following their review, the CHM concluded that a further review by an ad hoc EWG was not warranted at this time and supported the MHRA’s conclusion that no new evidence, with respect to a possible association between hormone pregnancy tests and adverse outcomes in pregnancy, was identified.
The MHRA remains committed to reviewing any new scientific evidence which may come to light.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what guidance NHS England provides to people who are prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on the risks of developing post-SSRI sexual dysfunction; whether they plan to recognise post-SSRI sexual dysfunction as a condition; and what support is available for people discontinuing SSRIs.
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The product information for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) provides advice on the risk of withdrawal/discontinuation reactions, and advises patients not to stop their medication suddenly. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for planning health services for their local population. This includes consideration of services for patients taking medicines associated with dependence and withdrawal symptoms, based on local population needs.
An increasing number of non-pharmacological alternatives have become available on the National Health Service, such as NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression, with over 670,000 courses of treatment provided in 2022/23. NHS England is encouraging ICBs to address inappropriate antidepressant prescribing and to consider commissioning services for patients wishing to reduce or stop prescribed medicines that can cause dependence and withdrawal.
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved product information, provided to healthcare professionals and patients for all SSRIs, was updated in 2019 to inform them that reports had been received of long-lasting sexual dysfunction, where symptoms continue despite discontinuation of the SSRI. The MHRA was an integral part of the European Union wide review of the available evidence which underpinned the current warnings.
The term Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction was added to the regulatory dictionary in 2021, which will help with the recording and retrieval of Yellow Card data and literature cases, and in the future, will contribute to the much-needed research into this important health issue. Persistent sexual dysfunction following withdrawal of an SSRI as a disorder was added to the electronic health records system, known as SNOMED, in October 2024, as a code that will help with the clinical identification of patients with persistent sexual dysfunction, including those after taking SSRIs.
An Expert Working Group of the Commission on Human Medicines has been established by the MHRA to consider how the risk of sexual dysfunction which continues after stopping antidepressants is communicated in patient information leaflets, however this work will not address the clinical recognition of post-SSRI sexual dysfunction, as that is outside the remit of the MHRA.