Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether the NHS plans to make minoxidil available to women who have lost their hair.

Minoxidil (Regaine) for the treatment of alopecia is available to purchase ‘over the counter’, without prescription.

Regaine cannot be prescribed in primary care as it is listed in Schedule 1 to the National Health Service (General Medical Service Contracts) (Prescription of Drugs etc.) Regulations 2004 (the ‘blacklist’).

However other minoxidil products are available for clinicians to prescribe if they consider them to be clinically appropriate for an individual patient.