ABSTRACT
On April 1, 1985, a large number of medicines became unavailable for prescription by general practitioners under the National Health Service (NHS). Many products included in the blacklist have been a source of hilarity – Weight Watchers' Baked Beans and communion wafers – but for general practitioners Schedule 10 is not a laughing matter: they can be taken before a service committee if they infringe it. In November 1992, the Secretary of State announced the extension of the blacklisting policy – then known officially as the Selected List Scheme – to a further ten therapeutic categories containing about 1500 preparations. The Department of Health is considering the recommendation of the House of Commons Health Committee that blacklisting be abolished, and replaced by a whitelist containing a restricted number of preparations that may be prescribed. The response to such a controversial action could make reactions to the Selected List scheme pale into insignificance.
