Parliament in action: Drug withdrawals and policy changes in the U.K

Previous studies on changes in health policies theorize such changes either as crises responses, or as the outcome of longer-term stakeholder conflicts. In this paper, we propose that parliaments function as overlooked, intermediate actors that contribute to translating the interests of stakeholders into policy changes. We study the role of parliament connecting policy makers and stakeholders in the context of drug regulation. Based on three high-profile cases of drug withdrawals between 1991 and 2005 in the United Kingdom (triazolam, rofecoxib, and co-proxamol), we distinguish partisan-political, individual-idiosyncratic, and collective-institutional pathways of parliamentary action on drug withdrawals. Distinguishing direct and indirect actions, we argue that indirect courses of action, including advocacy and educational work, can be just as effective as regular legislative endeavours, under certain conditions.