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Written Question
Cannabis: Medical Treatments
Wednesday 19th June 2019

Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many companies are licensed to sell cannabis products to the NHS.

Answered by Seema Kennedy

Any company meeting the standards for the manufacture of unlicensed medicinal products, can supply cannabis-based products for medicinal use.

Cannabis-based products for medicinal use are Schedule 2 controlled drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, which means that manufacturers, importers and distributors of these products must hold valid Home Office and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) licences for the relevant activities which will include possession, supply and production of controlled drugs. Where products are sourced from abroad, importers must obtain an import licence from the Home Office and non-objection to import from the MHRA for each individual import of a controlled drug.

Written Question
NHS: Drugs
Monday 8th April 2019

Asked by: Ian Blackford (Scottish National Party - Ross, Skye and Lochaber)

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure that the serious shortage protocols safeguard individuals who suffer from a condition, such as epilepsy, in which any change in medication could pose a serious risk to their health.

Answered by Seema Kennedy

A serious shortage protocol is an additional tool to manage and mitigate medication shortages and may be used in the exceptional and rare situation when other measures have been exhausted or are likely to be ineffective. Any protocol would only be introduced if clinicians with expertise in the relevant area think it is appropriate. Pharmacists still have to use their professional discretion as to whether supplying against the protocol rather than the prescription is appropriate, or whether the patient needs to be referred back to their prescriber.

As the explanatory memorandum of the amending Statutory Instrument acknowledges, protocols for therapeutic or generic equivalents will not be suitable for all medicines and patients. For example, those types of protocols would not be suitable for treatments for epilepsy or treatments requiring biological products where the medicines that are prescribed need to be prescribed by brand for clinical reasons. In these cases, patients would always be referred back to the prescriber for any decision about their treatment before any therapeutic or generic alternative is supplied.

Speech in Commons Chamber - Thu 30 Nov 2017
Autism Community: Mental Health and Suicide

"On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I want to raise with you a conversation that I have had in the past few minutes, in which I have been informed that Royal Bank of Scotland is going to close three branches in my constituency, at Kyle of Lochalsh, Beauly …..."
Ian Blackford - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 23 May 2016
Defending Public Services

"It is a pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for Basingstoke (Mrs Miller).

I hope the House will forgive me if I reflect on an historic event that took place in Scotland this weekend. For the first time in 114 years, the Scottish cup returned to Leith, in Edinburgh, …..."
Ian Blackford - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 23 May 2016
Defending Public Services

"I am saddened at the depths to which the hon. Gentleman stoops. I am delighted to have friends and colleagues representing my party here and in government in Edinburgh, and they will continue to have our full support.

The Queen’s Speech demonstrates that the Tories are a threat to high-quality, …..."
Ian Blackford - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 23 May 2016
Defending Public Services

"One of the things we want to do in Scotland is to deliver economic prosperity and a fairer society. We want to invest in our economy in order to grow the economy. Let me remind the right hon. Gentleman that we fought the general election in Scotland on a progressive …..."
Ian Blackford - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 23 May 2016
Defending Public Services

"My hon. Friend is correct: we need to invest in our children and in our productive potential, giving life chances through opportunities, which are badly missing from this Government’s approach.

Imran Hussain, the director of policy for the Child Poverty Action Group, said:

“There is a disconnect between what the …..."
Ian Blackford - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 23 May 2016
Defending Public Services

"One of the things we have done since being in government in Edinburgh since 2007 is to protect local government. What we face is the consequence of the cuts that have come from Westminster. I am delighted that an SNP Government have, through the council tax freeze, saved individuals in …..."
Ian Blackford - View Speech

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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 23 May 2016
Defending Public Services

"In many cases, we are talking about the Government wanting to charge people who have come here to work and who are already paying their taxes. What a disgraceful way for any Government to behave! That measure is the latest indication that the Tories represent a real and present danger …..."
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Speech in Commons Chamber - Mon 23 May 2016
Defending Public Services

"No, I will not, because that is not true. Full-time places at Scottish colleges have increased, and I will return to that point.

Ruth Davidson would want to introduce tuition fees in Scotland by the back door. Down here, the Tories are all for front-door fees. In Scotland, the Tories …..."
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