§ Mr. Pavittasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list in the 302W Official Report the brand names of all drugs used by the National Health Service in the area of Cephalosporins, Bblockers and Benzodiazepines and the current price of each.
§ Dr. VaughanI am sending the hon. Member the information and placing a copy in the Library of the House.
§ Mr. Pavittasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what separate testing has been made by the Committee on Safety of Medicines on Nitrosamines as distinct from the data supplied by commercial producers; if he will publish the relevant dates of testing; and if he will make a statement on the possible carcinogenic effects.
§ Dr. VaughanThe Committee on Safety of Medicines does not itself carry out the testing of drugs. The onus rests upon an applicant or licence-holder, as the case may be, to satisfy the Committee as to the safety, quality and efficacy of his product.
The carcinogenicity of various nitrosamines has been shown in a variety of vertebrate species—in fish and birds as well as mammals. It is wise, therefore, to assume similar effects in man though this can be established only by hard epidemiological evidence, which is not yet available. The contribution made by drugs to the total human intake of nitrosamines, which—together with their precursors—also occur naturally in the common diet, is as yet of unknown biological significance. No firm conclusion on carcinogenicity can therefore be drawn in the present state of knowledge. The CSM will, however, keep in touch with the developing discussion about nitrosamines and meanwhile is considering the in-vitro test developed by an informal WHO expert group to determine whether certain drugs are nitrosatable.