§ Lord Marlesfordasked Her Majesty's Government:
What is their estimate of the total expenditure from public funds on (a) research into vCJD and (b) treatment of patients with vCJD, in each of the past 10 years. [HL2171)
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathVariant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) was identified in 1996. The expenditure on research into transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) from public funds from 1990–91 to 2000–01 is shown in the table.
Medical Progress with Responsibility; and, if not, why they consider that such specific consent is unnecessary given the terms of their request that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority incorporate such a specific consent provision for embryo donations subsequent to January 2001. [HL2382]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathIt is the responsibility of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to consider each application for a research licence to extract stem cells from fertilised embryos on its individual merits. The policy of the HFEA has always been to require informed consent. Potential donors should receive written details of the research project that highlight any possible consequences of the work prior to making any donation. So individuals who donated embryos before January 2001 would have given consent for how those embryos were to be used. Researchers would not be able to use them for a different purpose without breaching their research licence.