§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services why he refuses to ask doctors to provide statistics of any action they may or may not have taken to find patients vaccinated with faulty rubella vaccine.
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§ Dr. VaughanThe medical records available would not everywhere enable doctors readily to provide the relevant statistical information. The benefits of asking for such returns as the right hon. Member suggests must therefore be weighed against the added burden placed upon the doctors affected, all of whom have already had the need for action drawn to their attention.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will recommend compensation for any child born disabled as a result of its mother's failure to avoid contact with rubella disease following vaccination with a faulty rubella vaccine.
§ Dr. VaughanAny possible question of compensation would be for the courts to decide.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will provide funds for a project to detect women vaccinated by faulty rubella vaccine.
§ Dr. VaughanI shall consider whether further action is needed when the recall is complete.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will refuse to grant any contracts to the firm of Smith, Kline and French until it has recovered all doses of faulty rubella vaccine distributed by it.
§ Dr. VaughanNo. There are no central Government contracts with the company for any of its products. Supplies of the company's rubella vaccine used in the Health Service are purchased direct by individual health authorities, which have sole responsibility for placing contracts.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will seek to identify the women vaccinated by faulty rubella vaccine so as to warn them of the risk of contact with rubella during pregnancy.
§ Dr. VaughanHaving regard to the action already taken by Smith, Kline and French Laboratories Ltd. and the Department, I am not proposing to take any further action at this stage.
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§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will seek a meeting with representatives of Smith, Kline and French, to discuss the steps they have taken to recover their faulty rubella vaccine.
§ Dr. VaughanNo. Officials of the Department are in continual contact with the company about the matter.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what his estimate is of the number of women who have now been injected with a faulty rubella vaccine.
§ Dr. VaughanNo estimate can be made.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many of the 91,179 doses of faulty rubella vaccine which were distributed in the current year have now been recovered.
§ Dr. VaughanRecall is proceeding. To date 36,127 doses have been returned and 2,830 are being returned.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what figures are available for the current year for the number of terminations of pregnancy due to maternal contact with rubella in each of the following categories (a) rubella disease, (b) rubella contact and (c) rubella immunisation.
§ Dr. VaughanProvisional figures for England and Wales from 1 January to 12 August inclusive are: (a) 291, (b) 95 and (c) 81.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what information his Department has concerning the resistance of rubella vaccine to both heat and light; and what is the maximum period of time during which the vaccine maintains its potency;
- (2) what advice has been given by his Department to general practitioners concerning the susceptibility of rubella vaccine to both heat and light and, therefore, the precautions that should be taken in the administration of the vaccine;
- (3) if rubella vaccine is issued in containers which are light resistant; and
363 whether clear instructions are given as to its temperature requirements. - (4) if the packaging of rubella vaccine shows contra indications to pregnancy, and clearly states the importance of avoiding pregnancy for at least three months following a rubella vaccination; and if he will make a statement;
- (5) what specific instructions are given to women who themselves purchase rubella vaccine on their doctors' instructions, to safeguard the properties of the vaccine.
§ Dr. VaughanI shall let the hon. Member have a reply as soon as possible.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what contraceptive advice is given to mothers receiving post-partum rubella vaccination.
§ Dr. VaughanThey should avoid becoming pregnant for three months.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what advice his Department has given to general practitioners to isolate, as far as possible, all suspected cases of rubella and other communicable diseases in their surgery waiting rooms.
§ Dr. VaughanNone. It is obviously good medical practice to keep patients who might be infectious away from other patients.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what information he has concerning the risk to the foetus of maternal rubella during the fourth month of pregnancy.
§ Dr. VaughanAlthough it is less than in the first three months, there is still a considerable risk.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what are the latest figures available from the Public Health Laboratory Service on the incidence of rubella; and how these figures compare with the last five years.
§ Dr. VaughanDuring the first 26 weeks of 1979, 1,976 reports of infection with rubella were made to the Public Health Laboratory Service from laboratories in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Figures364W for the corresponding periods in the last four years are as follows:
1975 … … 931 1976 … … 529 1977 … … 342 1978 … … 1,924 A corresponding figure for 1974 is not available.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what advice his Department has issued to the general public regarding the contagious nature of rubella and the obvious danger to expectant women during a rubella epidemic.
§ Dr. VaughanThe Department launched a publicity campaign in June.