HC Deb 09 December 1948 vol 459 cc552-3
36. Dr. Segal

asked the Minister of Health how many British subjects have been enabled to travel to Kassel to undergo the Voeller treatment for Parkinson's disease; on what basis were they selected; and what are the results of treatment to date.

Mr. Bevan

No British subjects have so far been permitted by the United States authorities to travel to Germany for treatment by Dr. Voeller. I am arranging a full investigation into Dr. Voeller's claims. If these are substantiated I will see what can be done to ensure that the treatment is available to all sufferers from the disease.

Dr. Segal

Could my right hon. Friend give some indication of the time when the report will be made available so that some of these people may look forward, with perhaps some degree of justified hope, to a remedying of their position?

Mr. Bevan

I obviously could not give any date, because those experts who are responsible for investigating these claims must not be unduly harried by Parliamentary pressure. They must satisfy themselves that there is something in the claim before any further steps can be taken.

Mr. Drayson

Would the Minister try to speed this up as much as possible, because there are instances where money has been collected by charitable organisations to enable sufferers to go to Germany to undertake this cure, and many of them will have had false hopes built up, if they are not allowed to go fairly soon?

Mr. Bevan

I do hope that people who are suffering from this very grave disease and their relatives will not allow false hopes to be built up in this matter. I certainly will expedite all the administrative sides of this investigation, but I cannot expedite the investigation itself, because nothing worries research students, or indeed research workers of any sort, more than to be subject to public pressure.

Mr. Godfrey Nicholson

Has the right hon. Gentleman's Department a list of people suffering from this disease; and if, as my hon. Friend said, hopes have been built up, and if some of these sufferers have been led to believe that certain people have already been selected for treatment but do not know the basis upon which the selection has been made, could a list be compiled?

Mr. Bevan

I have already said that no one has been allowed by the Americans to go into that zone to be treated by Dr. Voeller. If anybody wants to know how many people are suffering from the disease——

Mr. Nicholson

I only want to know if the Department do know that.

Mr. Bevan

That is an entirely different matter. If the hon. Member will put a Question on the Order Paper I will try to answer it.

Mr. Nicholson

I want to know whether the right hon. Gentleman's Department know. Surely they know of all the people suffering from this disease.

Mr. Bevan

Obviously, this is a matter of statistical accuracy. I should not like to give the figures on the spur of the moment.

Mr. Nicholson

I did not ask for them.

Mr. Bevan

If the hon. Member will put down that Question I will try to get the information.