Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2017 to Question 61825, what estimate his Department has made of the number of deaths that may arise from a lack of availability of bisphosphonates between now and that guidance being published in July 2018.

We have made no such assessment. There is no reason why bisphosphonates should not be prescribed now for the prevention of secondary breast cancer where prescribers assess they are the right treatment for their patients. National prescribing arrangements allow for bisphosphonates to be prescribed for this indication and, in the absence of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance, decisions about the funding and prescribing of individual treatments should be made by National Health Service commissioners and clinicians based on an assessment of the available evidence.