Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the experience of patients who have been prescribed Pregabalin, in particular the (1) side effects and withdrawal symptoms, and (2) pricing, of that medication.

As with all medicines, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, with input from the Government’s independent expert advisory body the Commission on Human Medicines, keep the safety of pregabalin under continual review and ensure the product information contains up to date information, issuing updated advice as appropriate. Details about the possible side effects are provided in the product information for all medicines containing pregabalin.

Prices of pregabalin decreased significantly when it came off patent in July 2017 leading to significant savings for the National Health Service. NHS expenditure in primary care in England on pregabalin went down from £315 million in 2016 to £216 million in 2017 and £38 million in 2018. In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that all patent protection on pregabalin should have expired in July 2014. This means that the NHS could have benefited earlier from cheaper prices of generic competitors and in this respect, the Department is currently considering its position.