§ 13. Mr. Houseasked the Minister of Health what is the cost to the Government of the scheme carried out by his Ministry 3319 at Harvard Hospital, Salisbury, for seeking volunteers for experiments on catching cold.
§ The Minister of Health (Mr. Aneurin Bevan)No expense has been incurred in seeking volunteers, but the total cost of the work up to 31st December last was £14, 170.
§ Mr. HouseMay I ask the Minister if he is aware that this is quite a wrong approach to the treatment of illness and disease and a complete waste of public money; and if he will arrange for his medical advisers, who are behind this scheme to be placed in some comfortable home of rest or detention out of harm's way?
§ Mr. BevanI should be happy to receive from my hon. Friend or anyone associated with him technical advice as to how to prevent or cure the common cold. It is extremely unfair to cast doubt on research workers because a certain amount of money is being spent; otherwise, we would never get any research done at all.