Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to monitor the safe prescription of oral corticosteroids to treat asthma.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is responsible for monitoring the safety of all healthcare products in the United Kingdom, including short-acting beta agonists and oral corticosteroids to treat asthma. They receive information about safety issues from patients and clinicians through the Yellow Card Scheme. They review the product if necessary and take action to minimise risk and maximise benefit to the patients. Decisions about prescribing rest with the doctor or other prescriber who has clinical responsibility for the particular aspect of a patient’s care.