HC Deb 05 May 1958 vol 587 cc830-2
16. Mr. Brockway

asked the Minister of Health what information he now has as to the efficacy of the Russian vaccine for multiple sclerosis.

Mr. Walker-Smith

I cannot as yet add to the replies I gave to Questions on this subject on 21st and 28th April.

Mr. Brockway

May I take the opportunity of putting the supplementary question which I wished to put then? Is the right hon. and learned Gentleman aware that I have sent him the names and addresses of six patients in this country who are receiving this treatment, and will he, in the investigations as to its efficacy, about which I acknowledge that we must be very careful, get reports from the medical officers of these patients?

Mr. Walker-Smith

Yes, Sir. The hon. Gentleman and I have been in correspondence about this matter for some little time, and I would certainly bear in mind what he has to tell me on this and other occasions.

Dr. Summerskill

In view of the increasing number of unfortunate patients subjecting themselves to this treatment, would not the Minister think that in view of the fact that last time he said he was not prepared to undertake the tests because it would take five years, it would be merciful for these people to know that he was willing to undertake the test?

Mr. Walker-Smith

Five years would be a longish time for them to have to look ahead. What I am now waiting for, as the right hon. Lady knows, is a reply from the Soviet Union, in regard to what official claims are made for this particular vaccine. When that reply is received, it can be considered by the experts, and then we will have a surer basis of foundation than we have at the present time.

24. Mr. Hastings

asked the Minister of Health if, after having received the information from Russia that he is now seeking, he will issue a White Paper on the Russian vaccine for multiple sclerosis so that both doctors and the public may have reliable information available.

Mr. Walker-Smith

I do not think this course would be appropriate since the responsibility for using the vaccine must rest with the doctor, not the patient. I will continue to ensure that any information reaching me is made available to doctors who wish to use the vaccine.

Mr. Hastings

While thanking the Minister very much for his very great services in connection with the Russian vaccine, may I ask him whether he does not think that information should be given to the public? Could he arrange at frequent intervals that the latest information which he has to hand is provided for the medical profession through his Ministry or through one of the journals, or in any other way he thinks to be appropriate?

Mr. Walker-Smith

I will certainly bear that in mind. As the hon. Member knows, the ordinary method of communicating information to the medical profession is through the medical Press, supplemented, if necessary, in the case of those practising in the National Health Service, by references in prescribers' notes. I will certainly bear all those matters in mind.

Dr. Summerskill

Is it not almost unprecedented for a Minister of Health to pass on to doctors information about a vaccine from a foreign country while at the same time he refuses to undertake any tests of the vaccine?

Mr. Walker-Smith

What the hon. Gentleman asked me to do was to make available in a suitable form to the medical profession such information as we have. I must say that I thought that was a very reasonable request, which I said I would try to meet. I see no inconsistency between that answer and telling the right hon. Lady, as is a fact, that field clinical trials would take five years to show results.

Dr. Summerskill

This is a rather important matter, because there are a large number of people in this country suffering from disseminated sclerosis who read these answers of the Minister carefully. If he is prepared to identify himself so closely with these trials that he is prepared to pass on information to the doctors, is he not at the same time playing a kind of confidence trick and should he not at the same time, in order to satisfy the doctor and the patient, promise to undertake a test?

Mr. Walker-Smith

I am sorry, but the right hon. Lady has not followed this quite clearly. Two propositions are involved here. One is the proposition that we should now proceed to hold field clinical trials of this vaccine. The other is the proposition that such information as we get, whether from the Soviet Union or elsewhere, should be disseminated to the medical profession in an appropriate form. The first proposition was that made by the right hon. Lady. I dealt with it last Monday and said that it could not show rewarding results for at least five years. The second proposition, which is quite distinct, is that made by the hon. Member for Barking (Mr. Hastings), and I have answered that today.