How will a ‘no deal' Brexit impact the UK's medical supply? Lords to hear evidence
On Wednesday 31st October the EU Home Affairs Sub-Committee will ask witnesses if the Government has given enough clarity and support to the pharmaceutical industry to ensure that it will be able to provide continued access to medicines in the event of no deal.
The Government's recent guidance has stated that in the event of a no deal Brexit the UK's participation in the European regulatory network would cease. This could mean that manufacturers may have to adapt the ingredients used in medicines, which could cause delays.
The Committee will ask the witnesses what this guidance might mean in legal and regulatory terms to the supply of medicines to the UK; if the cost of medicine might go up after Brexit; and whether patients should start stock piling their own drugs.
The evidence session will begin at 10:40 a.m. in Committee Room 3 of the House of Lords. The Committee will question:
- Mark Dayan, Policy and Public Affairs Analyst, Nuffield Trust
- Richard Freudenberg, Secretary General of the British Association of European Pharmaceutical Distributors
- Julian Maitland-Walker, Senior Partner, Maitland Walker LLP
Other questions the Committee are likely to ask include:
- What contingency remedies to you envisage in a no deal situation?
- Is the current advice from Government to stockpile six weeks of medicines sufficient?
- How many weeks' supply would you advise pharmaceutical companies and the NHS to stockpile?
- What is the size of the drugs market between the UK and the rest of the EU, and which drugs are at risk of being in short supply?
