§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the names of those who serve on review bodies under the Medicines Act; how many medicines have been reviewed, and with what result; and what is the nature of the criteria used to assess risk/benefit ratios.
§ Mr. MellorThe current membership of the Committee on the Review of Medicines is given in its annual report for 1987, a copy of which is available in the Library. This and previous annual reports of the Committee on the Review of Medicines from 1975 give details of the progress of the review. Of the approximate 3,360 medicines which have been reviewed so far some 3,205 were permitted to remain on the market and some 160 have been removed. The latest figure excludes medicines withdrawn by companies themselves: an estimated 39,000 medicines subject to the review were on the market when it began in 1975. Risk/benefit ratios are assessed on the available evidence in relation to the uses for which medicines are claimed to be effective. Particular guidance on herbal medicines was issued in 1985 in the herbal information sheet, a copy of which is in the Library.