Off-patent Drugs Bill — Second Reading — 7 Nov 2014 at 12:28

George Freeman MP, Mid Norfolk voted against licensing off-patent drugs in relation to new ways which have been found to use them.

The majority of MPs voted for the licensing of off-patent drugs in relation to new ways which have been found to use them.

MPs were considering the Off-patent Drugs Bill[1].

The Bill requires the Secretary of State to take steps to secure a licence for off-patent drugs in relation to new ways which have been found to use them. The Bill also requires an annual report on the steps taken under its provisions.

The motion supported by the majority of MPs taking part in the vote was:

  • That the Bill be now read a Second time.

Support for this motion means the Bill continues on its path towards becoming law.

While moving the motion Jonathan Evans MP explained[2] his motivation for introducing the Bill saying there was no incentive for pharmaceutical companies, or anyone else, to apply for licences for new uses of off-patent drugs as they don't have a monopoly on making money from that drug. He stated that clinicians were deterred from prescribing drugs in circumstances for which they are not licensed and noted it is illegal to advertise and sell such drugs for such purposes if the drug is not licensed.

Debate in Parliament | Source |

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Party Summary

Votes by party, red entries are votes against the majority for that party.

What is Tell? '+1 tell' means that in addition one member of that party was a teller for that division lobby.

What are Boths? An MP can vote both aye and no in the same division. The boths page explains this.

What is Turnout? This is measured against the total membership of the party at the time of the vote.

PartyMajority (Aye)Minority (No)BothTurnout
Con8 (+2 tell) 2 (+2 tell)04.6%
Lab11 004.3%
LDem0 000.0%
PC1 0033.3%
Total:20 204.2%

Rebel Voters - sorted by party

MPs for which their vote in this division differed from the majority vote of their party. You can see all votes in this division, or every eligible MP who could have voted in this division

Sort by: Name | Constituency | Party | Vote

NameConstituencyPartyVote
Harriett BaldwinWest WorcestershireCon (front bench)no
George FreemanMid NorfolkCon (front bench)no
Damian HindsEast HampshireCon (front bench)tellno
Mel StrideCentral DevonCon (front bench)tellno

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