To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has issued any guidance regarding initiating the prescription of co-proxamol. The safety of medicines availableon the UK market is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products RegulatoryAgency (MHRA) and the expert independent advisory committee, the Committee on Safetyof Medicines (CSM).There are a number of alternativesfor managing pain and the CSM has issued advice on pain management options to assistprescribers, together with individual patients, in choosing pain management strategies.This guidance also refers to a number of sources of additional advice includingthe British National Formulary, issued to doctors and pharmacists.