§ Dr. Roger Thomasasked the Secretary of State for the Social Services if he will detail the plans by the Medical Research Council to investigate the safety and accuracy of chorionic villus sampling compared with amniocenteses; and what are the criteria recommended by his Department of women carrying a foetus with more than the average risk of being handicapped or of passing on certain inherited diseases.
§ Sir Keith JosephI have been asked to reply.
In the light of the recommendations of a Medical Research Council working party set up to evaluate the safety of chorion villus sampling (CVS), the council announced on 14 May that it proposes to carry out a randomised clinical trial in order to compare CVS with amniocentesis as a method for the pre-natal diagnosis of a range of genetic diseases. The trial will mainly involve mothers who are at risk of major chromosomal abnormalities, such as that which causes Down's syndrome, but will also include patients at risk of having a baby with a single gene disorder. It is hoped that at least 2,000 women will participate; and that a number of European centres may agree to participate in addition to between 10 and 20 centres in the United Kingdom. The decision whether to offer any pre-natal screening is one of clinical judgment by the clinician responsible for the care 240W of the mother. I understand that great care will be taken to ensure that prospective participants understand the nature of the trial before deciding to take pan.