HC Deb 08 February 1996 vol 271 cc345-6W
Mr. Simon Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the chairmen of the Medicines Commission since the inception of the Medicines Commission and give for each chairman the dates on which the chairmanship started and finished, together with the total duration of the chairmanship and if the individual concerned had served as a member of the Medicines Commission other than as chairman. [12921]

Mr. Malone

The available information is as follows:

Start and finish date
Sir Derrick Dunlop MD FRCP FRCPed (Chairman) 1969 to December 1971
Lord Rosenheim KBE MD FRCP (Member) 1969 to December 1971 (Chairman) January 1972 to December 1972 (1 year)
Professor A. Wilson CBE PhD MD FRCP FPS (Member) 1969 to October 1974 (Acting Chairman) December 1972 to mid 1973
Sir Ronald Bodley Scott GCVO MA MD (Chairman) Mid 1973 to December 1975
Professor W. Butterfield OBE MA MD DM FRCP FACP (Member) January 1975 to December 1975 (1 year) (Chairman) January 1976 to December 1981 (6 years)
Professor Dame Rosalind Hurley DBE LLB MD DUniv(Surrey) FRCPath FFPM(Hon) FRCOG (Chairman) 1982 to December 1993 (12 years)
Professor D. Lawson CBE MD FRCPEdin FRCPGlasg FFPM (Chairman) January 1994 to Present (2 years 1 month)

Mr. Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the occasions when the Medicines Commission has exercised its powers under section 3 of the Medicines Act 1968, and for each occasion give the date and nature of the issues examined, at whose request the powers were exercised, and if the results of the deliberations of the commission were published. [12923]

Mr. Malone

Section 3 of the Medicines Act 1968 sets out all of the general functions assigned to the Medicines Commission by or under the Act. To provide the information in respect of all the matters considered by the commission since it was established in 1969 would incur disproportionate cost. Details of matters considered by the commission are published in annual reports which are laid before the House and copies of which are available in the Library.

Mr. Hughes

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the occasions since 1968 when the Medicines Commission reviewed the committees established under section 4 of the Medicines Act 1968. [12975]

Mr. Malone

Under section 5 of the Medicines Act 1968, all section 4 committees are required to report to the Medicines Commission annually with respect to the performance of their functions. Copies of the reports are placed in the Libraries of both Houses.