§ 3 and 4. Mr. F. Noel-Bakerasked the Minister of Health (1) whether, in view of the increasing number of habit-forming drugs now advertised and on sale to the public without prescription, he will make it obligatory on manufacturers of such products to print a full declaration of their contents, in terms comprehensible to the layman, not only on the container as at present, but also on the wrapper or box and on all advertisements and literature relating to such products;
(2) whether, in view of the dangerous substances contained in such products, he will seek power to extend to all products appertaining to health which are on sale to the general public the regulations governing the declaration of contents of proprietary medicines and drugs.
§ Mr. Walker-SmithThese suggestions would require new legislation and I will arrange for them to be examined in the review of legislation relating to the control of medicinal substances, which, as I explained in my reply to the hon. Member and the hon. Member for Barking (Mr. Driberg) on 7th December, is now being undertaken.
§ Mr. Noel-BakerWhile thanking the Minister warmly for that reply, may I ask him whether he agrees that there is something quite illogical about the present legislation which obliges manufacturers to put in very small print on the actual container a description of the contents while saying nothing about it on what the consumer normally sees when 811 he buys the product, namely, the outside wrapper? Will he use what influence he can to bring some logic into this legislation, and extend it?
§ Mr. Walker-SmithThese products are governed by Section 11 of the Pharmacy and Medicines Act, 1941, which, as the hon. Gentleman says, deals really with the containers and the labels. On the wider point of advertisements, the Working Party will have these points in mind in the review which it is making.
§ Dr. SummerskillWhile this proposal would be very useful to the initiated, will not the Minister agree that it would still be possible for unscrupulous drug houses to play a confidence trick on the public unless all these drugs had a satisfactory clinical trial?
§ Mr. Walker-SmithThe hon. Member's Question uses the phrase "in terms comprehensible to the layman" and I am not sure that it will not be beyond ingenuity to describe all these things in such language. Laymen in doubt should consult a doctor or a pharmacist. I referred to the question of clinical trials in an answer that I gave last Monday when I said that I was considering this matter and would make a statement in due course.