Sharp Fall In "Pill" Spend After UK Scare

9 June 1996

As a result of the UK warning from the Committee on the Safety of Medicines regarding oral contraceptives last year (Marketletters passim), prescribing of the the pill has dropped by nearly L3 million ($4.7 million) a quarter since October 1995. According to data from the Prescription Pricing Authority's PACT report, use of third-generation OCs declined by nearly 60%.

PACT data showed a fall from L12.4 million in spending on OCs for the period July to September 1995 to L9.5 million in the first quarter of 1996. The volume of prescribing has remained unchanged, with the fall in expenditure attributed to a switch to cheaper, second-generation products, on which there was no warning.

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