§ Mr. Wigleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) whether his Department has undertaken any investigations to date into claims made in Mexico that the drug Laetrile has been successfully used as a cure for certain forms of cancer; and whether it is aware of the work undertaken in this field at the Tijuana clinic in Mexico;
(2) whether the drug Laetrile is prescribed by any doctors within the National Health Service to patients suffering from cancer of the pancreas.
§ Mr. MoyleNo product containing Laetrile is licensed under the Medicines Act 1968 for the treatment of malignant disease, and no clinical trial certificate has been issued to investigate this substance in these conditions. A doctor is permitted to obtain a medicinal product for administration to a particular patient of his without a licence but Laetrile is not recorded as being prescribed by any doctors within the National Health Service. My Department is aware of the work of the Tijuana Clinic in Mexico42W but has undertaken no investigations to date into the claims made.