HC Deb 03 July 1967 vol 749 cc1258-9
48. Mrs. Joyce Butler

asked the Minister of Health if he will take steps to require doctors to notify him of cases of thrombosis and other side effects in women taking the contraceptive pill, so that a constant check can be kept on the risks involved.

Mr. K. Robinson

Doctors have already been asked to notify the Committee on Safety of Drugs where thrombosis and other adverse reactions are suspected to be associated with the taking of oral contraceptives; I do not think compulsory reporting is necessary but it is important that the Committee should be informed.

Mrs. Butler

In view of the fact that some women are apparently more susceptible than others to blood clots and other side-effects from the pill, does my right hon. Friend not think compulsory notification is absolutely essential to prevent the occasional tragedy which does take place, and to make sure that nothing is overlooked in assessing the long-term factors?

Mr. Robinson

These matters, as my hon. Friend no doubt knows, are all under examination by the Committee on the Safety of Drugs and the Medical Research Council. Compulsory reporting would require legislation, and I have no reason to think that it is required. All doctors have been reminded on several occasions of the need to report adverse reactions.

Mr. Braine

While I would accept at this stage what the right hon. Gentleman says about compulsory notification, does he not think that a useful purpose might be served by setting up a pilot scheme in selected areas, on a voluntary basis so far as doctors and patients are concerned, to establish whether, prima facie, in a particular locality there is any reason for anxiety? Unless this is done over a period of time we shall not have the evidence.

Mr. Robinson

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that this matter is being studied in considerable depth. By the nature of the problem, it will be, I think, some years before we have anything like the final answer, but I can assure the hon. Gentleman that the requisite material is being collected.

Dr. Summerskill

Would my right hon. Friend make a strong recommendation to everyone concerned in the manufacture, distribution and dispensing of the pill to make it quite clear to the increasing number of women who are taking it that there is this possible side-effect of thrombosis and not leave this task to Press reports of coroners' inquests?

Mr. Robinson

No, Sir. I think that warnings of this kind are properly for the general practitioners who write the prescriptions.

Mr. Lubbock

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that some coroners who have not medical knowledge and who are not qualified in statistics have drawn wholly unjustified connections between the taking of the pill and death due to thrombosis? In view of the public anxiety thus caused among many millions of women who are safely taking the pill, will he discourage these pronouncements by coroners?

Mr. Robinson

I do not know about discouraging pronouncements by coroners, but I accept that there have been statements for which there has been a somewhat insufficient basis of fact. I made to the House a statement which helped to put the matter into perspective for these women who are taking oral contraceptives.