§ Mr. Tierneyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give an estimate of the number of patients who have been treated with the drug Eraldin.
§ Dr. OwenIt is not possible to give a precise figure, but on the basis that sales of Eraldin amounted to around 250,000 patient-years of treatment, many thousands of patients have been treated.
§ Mr. Tierneyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will give an estimate of the number of people who suffer from the side effects of the drug Eraldin and who are unaware of the source of their illness.
§ Mr. Litterickasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what representations he has recently received from or on behalf of patients suffering damage as a result of using the drug Eraldin.
293W
§ Dr. OwenSince my reply to my hon. Friend on 29th April—[Vol. 910 c.166–7]—I have received a letter from him and a few other letters by or on behalf of patients who may have suffered from adverse reactions to Eraldin.
§ Mr. Litterickasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps his Department has taken to retrieve all supplies of the drug Eraldin from patients for whom it had been prescribed or to warn the patients of the drug's potentially dangerous side effects.
§ Dr. OwenDoctors have been informed of the side effects of Eraldin that occur in some patients; they were and remain best placed to advise individual patients. My Department agreed with the manufacturers the steps they would take to withdraw this product from sale through retail pharmacies.
§ Mr. Litterickasked the Secretary of State for Social Services when his Department was first advised that the drug Eraldin might produce damaging side effects in human beings.
§ Dr. OwenThe Committee on Safety of Medicines became aware in June 1974 of the possibility of skin and eye disorders developing in patients treated with practolol. Previously there had been a number of reports of adverse reactions, but these were not of a nature to cause serious concern.