§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what investigations his Department has carried out on those service-personnel who took part in the Gulf War and who are now suffering from the so-called desert-fever syndrome in respect of possible damage to the immune system resulting from the precautions they were instructed to take; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. SoamesThe only such precautionary measure service personnel in the Gulf were instructed to take was the self-administration of one 30mg pyridostigmine bromide tablet every eight hours from their nerve agent pre-treatment sets on order from the local chain of command as a protection against the threat of nerve agent attack. The body of medical evidence from over four decades of medical use of pyridostigmine, the specific research into pyridostigmine as a nerve agent prohylaxis and the Department's current Gulf war medical884W assessment programme all indicate that pyridostigmine does not damage the immune system. Nor is there any biologically plausible rationale to suggest that it could do so.
Various vaccines were administered during the Gulf war on a voluntary basis. Again, the body of medical evidence shows that vaccines do not produce immune system dysfunction.
The Department's Gulf war medical assessment programme uses well-established screening investigations, which include a full blood count, differential white cell count and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Any individual patient with suspected immune dysfunction undergoes immunoglobulin assay, tests for autoantibodies and a variety of imaging investigations. If this whole screening process reveals a possible immune system abnormality, more detailed investigations are ordered.
§ Mr. Clifton-BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if complete medical records, including all substances and innoculations administered during the Gulf war to any member of the armed forces, will be made available to him or her or their general practitioner on request.
§ Mr. SoamesService medical records are the property of the Department but, in common with civilian medical records, individual access to them by the patient concerned is allowed in accordance with the Access to Health Records Act 1990. Under the provisions of this Act, medical records are normally released to the individual concerned only if they were compiled after 1 November 1991, which post-dates the end of the Gulf conflict. However, for service medical records of former personnel compiled before this date, it has long been my Department's policy to release them upon request to the individual's general practitioner when they are required for the management of a particular case. These records include details of the medications and vaccinations given to the patient. However, in the operational situation pertaining during the Gulf conflict it is possible that not all such details were transcribed from field records on to personal medical records. The Defence Medical Services is happy to give advice to GPs in individual cases of doubt. Nerve agent pre-treatment sets were issued to all personnel in the Gulf but are not recorded on personal medical records as they are self-administered on order from the local chain of command, depending on the assessed threat of nerve agent attack, and not given as a medicinal product.
§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence under what terms of reference the members of the Royal College of Physicians are conducting their independent verification of his Department's Gulf war veterans medical assessment programme; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. SoamesThe purpose of obtaining the assistance of the Royal College of Physicians is to gain an independent opinion of our Gulf war medical assessment programme. It is for the Royal College of Physicians to determine the terms of reference.
§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will identify by name the members of the Royal College of Physicians who will oversee examinations under his Department's Gulf war veterans medical assessment programme.
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§ Mr. SoamesThe purpose of obtaining the assistance of the Royal College of Physicians is to gain an independent opinion of our Gulf war medical assessment programme. The selection of members to oversee the programme is a decision for the Royal College of Physicians.