§ Mr. Hillasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make it Her Majesty's Government's policy that drugs produced by British pharmaceutical companies which are considered unsafe for sale in the United Kingdom should be banned from export to overseas countries.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeOur Department informs the World Health Organisation and member states of the European Community immediately whenever a licence for a medicinal product is suspended or revoked on grounds of safety. It would not be right, however, to ban the export of such products since the United Kingdom licensing authority is not in a position to assess the risk/benefit ratio of a medicine in other countries where the different social, economic or climatic conditions may cause the benefits to outweigh the hazards associated with its use.