§ Mr. Collickasked the Minister ofHealth if he will arrange to obtain supplies of the anti-leukaemia serum developed by the French biologist, M. Naessens, so that it can be tested by the medical research authorities in this country and, if safe and effective, made available as early as possible for the treatment of patients in this country.
§ Sir M. Galpernasked the Minister of Health, in view of the widespread publicity given to the claims of Gaston Naessens that he has successfully developed an anti-leukaemia serum, resulting in several British children being now in Ajaccio hoping to receive treatment and the offer of private individuals in this country to provide finance and facilities for the testing of the serum, if he will forthwith seek to obtain supplies of the serum for the purpose of having the fullest clinical tests carried out under the aegis of his department.
§ Mr. BarberI have asked the French Ministry of Public Health to keep me informed of the outcome of tests on the serum. The tests are being carried out at the Gustave Roussy Institute, Villejuif, the largest in France for the treatment of cancer.
There is no serum in this country at the present time, but even if there 60W were, I am advised that any tests carried out here would be unlikely to be concluded more quickly or more thoroughly than at Villejuif.
The choice of treatment for leukaemia is a matter for the clinical judgment of each doctor concerned in the knowledge that the serum in question has yet to be tested.