Cannabis: Medical Treatments
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients under the age of 18 are in receipt of an NHS funded cannabis-based (a) prescription and (b) medication.
Answered by Andrew Gwynne
The NHS Business Services Authority does not hold the information in the form requested as it is only a legal requirement for prescriptions to state the age for children under 12 years.
Between November 2018 and July 2024, 21,299 items of licensed cannabis-based medicines, namely Nabilone, Sativex and Epidyolex, were dispensed in the community in England against a National Health Service prescription.
Data on unlicensed cannabis-based medicines is withheld in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation, due to the number of items attributed to fewer than five patients and enhanced risk of release of patient identifiable information.
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