§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will now publish in the Official Report the titles and names of the authors of the detailed studies regarding the short-term effects of Depo Provera in the United Kingdom and other countries in the world which are used by his Department; if his Department has verified the authenticity and statistical and medical reliability of such studies and research work; and if he will make a statement.
§ Dr. VaughanWhen considering the adverse effects of Depo Provera or any other drug the Department takes account of relevant scientific papers. These may be identified by means of a number of computer linked systems, such as BLAISE and MEDLINE. I regret that it would be impractical to publish the full list of such papers or identify which individual papers contained in these systems may have been referred to by the Department, but four papers have been referred to in my replies to the hon. Member on 18 July 1980—[Vol. 988, c.740]—28 July 1980—[Vol. 989 c. 651]—and to my hon. Friend the Member for Bury St Edmunds (Mr. Griffiths) on 12 February 1981—[Vol. 998 c.442–43]—as follows:
Contraception: May 1978, Vol.17, No.5 pp395–406
The British Journal of Family Planning: Vol.4, No. 3 October 1978
Depo Provera—A critical Analysis - S. Minkin
Int. J. Gynaecol. Obstet. 15: 145–149, 1977
488WAdvisers in the Department use their professional judgement when assessing the value of the data contained in these papers including, where appropriate, the methodology employed and their statistical and medical reliability.