§ 8. Mr. Swinglerasked the Minister of Health if he has considered the report, sent to him by the honourable Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme, of a clinical 11 experiment in which mentally defective children in hospital were used as matched controls; whether parental consent was obtained before the children were so used; and what assurances were given that no harmful effects would result.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithI have seen the report, and I regret to find on inquiry that parental consent was not obtained as it should have been before the drug was administered. I am assured that a single dose as given in this case has no harmful effects.
§ Mr. SwinglerDid not the Minister note during the debate in the House in February, 1945, to which I referred him, that I drew the attention of the then Minister of Health to a similar case of children in hospital being used as "guinea pigs" for scientific experiments involving the injection of drugs without there being any parental consent? Is not this very wrong, and as this is the second case which has occurred, should not the Minister issue some guidance to hospital authorities, as there are many who have the strongest possible objection to children being used in this way, especially when adults can volunteer for the purpose?
§ Mr. Walker-SmithGuidance has been issued on this matter in the form of the Medical Research Council memorandum which was sent to the hon. Member on the earlier occasion and which, as he may know, has since been published. In regard to adults, in this case the drug was in fact first tried out on the doctors who were to carry out the trials on the children.
§ 9. 9. Mr. Swinglerasked the Minister of Health to what extent his regulations permit the use of children in hospital for clinical experiments with or without parental consent.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithInvestigations of this kind involve medical and ethical problems which are not susceptible of control by regulations. It is, however, my view that parental consent should be obtained, and I will draw the attention of responsible officers of hospital boards to this matter again.
§ Mr. SwinglerWhile thanking the Minister for that reply, may I ask whether 12 it is not regrettable that this case should have occurred, in view of the fact that the previous Minister of Health gave the same reply about two and a half years ago about parental consent being obtained if such experiments were necessary? Will the right hon. and learned Gentleman now make this instruction very emphatic to hospital authorities so that no further cases may occur?
§ Mr. Walker-SmithI will certainly try to ensure that the requirement is brought to the notice of all concerned. Having said that, I reiterate that no harm was done and that this was a valuable and useful experiment.
§ Mr. MayhewWhile the Minister very rightly agrees to look carefully at the point raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Mr. Swingler), may I ask him to bear in mind that a number of very promising research projects involve free access to patients? While he will look carefully at the matter, may I ask that he will not prejudice the success of those very important researches?
§ Mr. Walker-SmithMy general policy, in harmony with that of the Medical Research Council, is that there should be the greatest possible freedom from detailed supervision in clinical research in hospitals for the reasons that the hon. Member for Woolwich, East (Mr. Mayhew) has given. I do not regard that as incompatible with abiding by the view I have expressed about parental consent for these cases.