MPs were told yesterday that a minimum alcohol price of 50p a unit would save 3,400 lives a year.
Dr Petra Meier, of Sheffield University's school of health, presented research to the Commons health select committee showing that price controls could prevent 98,000 hospital admissions a year.
The government previously rejected introducing a minimum price per unit for alcohol claiming that it would hit responsible drinkers.
But Ms Meier told MPs that moderate drinkers would only pay an extra £12 a year, whereas the excessive drinkers targeted would have to pay an extra £163 a year if they continued to drink so many units.