§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to ensure parents are offered a clear choice over the vitamin K injection for their own newly born children; and if she will make a statement.
§ Mr. SackvilleThe Department expects that clinicians would discuss this aspect of a baby's management with the parents. They would need to explain to them the clear benefits of vitamin K in protecting the newborn child from serious bleeding which can sometimes result in permanent brain damage and, occasionally, death.
The Department is considering with the British Paediatric Association and research workers the need for further research to clarify the implications for neonatal care of a possible association between intramuscular injection of vitamin K and childhood cancer.