HC Deb 04 July 1966 vol 731 cc29-31
28. Mr. Iremonger

asked the Minister of Health what proportion of hospital beds is occupied by patients suffering from schizophrenia; what proportion of these patients are readmissions; what advice he has had from the Medical Research Council about the theory that the cause of schizophrenia is biochemical and that the cure is treatment by half-gramme doses of niacin; and what approaches he is making to drug manufacturers to encourage them to make niacin tablets available in this country in the requisite strength, as they are in Canada and the United States of America.

Mr. K. Robinson

13.5 per cent. at the end of 1964; 70 per cent. of admissions for schizophrenia that year were readmissions; none; none.

Mr. Iremonger

Would the right hon. Gentleman give further thought to this matter and realise what an enormous impact this new discovery may have on the whole requirements of the National Health Service? Could he ask the Council to look into this and hold consultations with the drug manufacturers?

Mr. Robinson

I am aware that there have been experiments by Hoffer and Osmond in the use of niacin, but I am advised that their results are unproved. I can assure the hon. Gentleman that the drug is available under the National Health Service, and I know of no difficulty about the strength of the tablet.

Dr. Dunwoody

Would not my right hon. Friend agree that to put down the Question is irresponsible, that to suggest that there is a readily available cure for schizophrenia is not true and that the Question can only raise false hopes in the minds of close relatives of those who are suffering from this tragic disease?

Mr. Robinson

I am sure that that was not the hon. Gentleman's motive. But these sort of conclusions are too readily adopted, I am afraid, by people who read claims in the Press and elsewhere on behalf of new drugs.

Mr. Braine

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that my hon. Friend has touched upon a matter of very great importance? Bearing in mind that about half our hospital beds are occupied by mental patients and that about one-third of these are schizophrenics, and bearing also in mind that the Medical Research Council is devoting only about 10 per cent. of its budget to research in psychiatry, does the right hon. Gentleman think that this is adequate?

Mr. Robinson

I seem to recall calling the attention of one of my predecssors to this matter many years ago when the proportion of the budget was very much smaller than it is today. But I can tell the hon. Gentleman that the Medical Research Council considers that the theory of a biochemical causation for some forms of schizophrenia offers a promising line of investigation, but there is no substantial evidence that niacin cures schizophrenia.