§ 29. Mr. Darlingasked the Minister of Health if he is satisfied with the procedure for testing drugs and for banning the sale, except on medical advice and prescription, of drugs which may otherwise be harmful; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithI am considering a recommendation by the Committee on the Cost of Prescribing to the effect that the arrangements for testing drugs should be improved. Restriction to supply on medical advice and prescription is a different matter, in respect of which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department and I already have powers. As I said in my reply to my hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Mr. Gresham Cooke) on 1st February, 1960, an Inter-Departmental Working Party is studying the present law and will make recommendations on any changes which it thinks necessary.
§ Mr. DarlingWould not the Minister agree that it is about time this confusion between two Departments came to an end and that in this important matter the health authority dealing with it should be in one Department, its own Department, which is now solely concerned with health, hospitals and medical matters? With whatever Departmental committees he may have and with his right hon. Friends interested in this matter, will he consider suggesting that no new drugs should come on the market 19 until they have been approved by some authority or body, probably the Committee in existence in his Department?
§ Mr. Walker-SmithThere is no confusion in regard to this matter. It is true that in respect of the control of drugs two Departments are involved, that of the Ministry of Health in regard to the Therapeutic Substances Act, and my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary in regard to the Pharmacy and Poisons Act and the Dangerous Drugs Act. There is no confusion about it; we are working together harmoniously and effectively.
§ Dr. SummerskillWill the Minister take one immediate step, and that is to inform the drug houses, which are hawking their high-priced drugs from doctor to doctor at the expense of the taxpayer, that all drugs should have had a clinical trial in this country? He could take that step immediately.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithThe right hon. Lady is now dealing with the other part of the Question. The original Question covered all these matters, but the question of the hon. Lady referred to tests. She will know of the recommendations of the Hinchcliffe Committee with reference to a clinical trials committee. Consultations are well advanced and I hope to make a statement on that aspect of the matter shortly.
§ 30. Mr. Doddsasked the Minister of Health if he has yet considered the communication sent to him enclosing a warning issued by the Co-operative Union to the co-operative societies against the selling of the drugs Preludin, Persomnia, Relaxa, Menopax, and Miltown, except on a doctor's prescription or on the advice of a qualified chemist; and what reply he has sent.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithI would refer the hon. Member to my reply on 15th February to the hon. Member for Wood Green (Mrs. Butler).
§ Mr. DoddsIs the Minister aware that I have that Answer with me but it does not answer the Question? I ask the Minister to look at the Question, which asks about Preludin, Persomnia, Relaxa, Menopax and Miltown. The two we have been told about are Preludin and Persomnia, but we now want to know about the other three. Does the right hon. and learned Gentle- 20 man appreciate that even the chemists are in a proper mess about the statements made in this House? Does he appreciate that the list given by the Home Secretary means nothing to the general public? How can we know whether the other three are banned or not? Will the Minister also refer to the Question about chemists?
§ Mr. Walker-SmithNo one is in a mess about this, with the possible exception of the hon. Member, who sometimes has a tendency to get a little muddled about these matters. The preparations mentioned in his Question all contain substances which my right hon. Friend intends to restrict to supply by prescription under the Pharmacy and Poisons Act, 1933. The preparations referred to in the Question will be subject to control.