§ 2.41 p.m.
§ BARONESS SUMMERSKILLMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will prohibit the distribution of the contraceptive pill in view of the serious warning issued by the Medical Research Council and the Dunlop Committee on the Safety of Drugs that there is a risk to life from pulmonary thrombosis and cerebral thrombosis to women who take the pill.]
§ LORD KENNETMy Lords, the warning to which my noble friend has referred is, I take it, the article by Dr. Inman, of the Committee on Safety of 977 Drugs, and Dr. Vessey, of the Medical Research Council, which was published in the British Medical Journal of April 27. This, and another article in the same issue, reported in greater detail on the link between thrombo-embolism and the use of oral contraceptives, about which a preliminary report was issued last year. The Committee on Safety of Drugs have carefully considered the evidence in the newly published articles, and have advised that in view of the considerable therapeutic as well as social value of oral contraceptives they do not feel justified in recommending that these preparations should be withdrawn from the market, provided that they remain available only on prescription and that doctors and patients are aware of the degree of known risk which their use involves. The Government have accepted this advice, and accordingly do not propose to prohibit the distribution of oral contraceptive preparations.
§ BARONESS SUMMERSKILLMy Lords, as it was apparently only a short time ago that the country was assured that there was no danger in the use of the contraceptive pill, would not my noble friend agree that, now that it has been definitely revealed that a woman taking the contraceptive pill is ten times more liable to get thrombosis than the woman who is not taking it, the time has arrived for the Government to take action?
§ LORD KENNETMy Lords, I do not know to what assurance some years ago the noble Baroness refers; nor do I know from where she got the figure when she said "ten times more likely".
§ BARONESS SUMMERSKILLMy Lords, may I ask the noble Lord to read the first leader in the British Medical Journal of this week on the subject? He will then get the answer to the question he has asked me. It is ten times more likely. May I also ask him particularly to read the last paragraph of that article, in which the British Medical Journal warns the doctors and the country that there should be no complacency in this matter? Does he not think that the Ministry of Health are being too complacent?
§ LORD KENNETMy Lords, I would entirely agree with what the noble Baroness has said: that there should be no complacency in this matter. There 978 is a known risk, and doctors should explain it to patients. This is the doctor's responsibility. I daresay that the House would like me to quote some figures, because I have implied that "ten times" is not correct. The risk of death from thrombo-embolism among users of oral contraceptives aged between 20 and 34 is, so far as present knowledge goes, about 15 per million; the risk among non-users is about 2 per million. So, the likelihood is seven times greater, and not ten times. Among women aged between 35 and 44, among users, the risk is 39 per million; among non-users, 5 per million. Once again the risk is about seven times greater.
§ BARONESS SUMMERSKILLMy Lords, in view of the fact that the women we are talking about are not diseased but are healthy young women with small children whom they will leave, I would ask my noble friend: does he not realise that the figures he has given it themselves demand that the Ministry take some action?
§ LORD SEGALMy Lords, in view of the fact that the House may be venturing into rather deep technical waters, can my noble friend give an assurance that the Ministry will keep a very alert eye on further investigations that are carried out and will be prepared always to modify its present attitude in this matter?
§ LORD KENNETYes, my Lords.
§ LORD FRASER OF LONSDALEMy Loads, are there not many other risks to which all of us are subject, such as traffic, cancer and Heaven knows what? Is this not a minimal risk, having regard to the advantage that many people find in taking the pill?
§ LORD KENNETMy Lords, I think that is a very valid point. If I may, I will enlarge upon the figures I have given. The estimates of death are as follows: 15 per million among users of the contraceptive pill aged between 20 and 34; 49 per million from motor accidents, and 228 per million from the normal risks attendant on pregnancy and childbirth.
§ BARONESS SUMMERSKILLMy Lords, is not the noble Lord aware that the figures he has given are not relevant? By giving the pill we are killing the individual deliberately. He has read to the House statistics of accidental deaths.
§ LORD KENNETMy Lords, the standard preparations do not kill any individual; they prevent conception.