HC Deb 20 July 1982 vol 28 c140W
Sir David Price

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list in the Official Report those anaesthetics in current use in National Health Service hospitals which have not been tested on animals at some stage of their development.

Mr. Kenneth Clarke

There are 164 local and general anaesthetics licensed under the Medicines Act and available for the NHS. To attempt to trace their development in detail would involve disproportionate cost, particularly in the case of anaesthetics of very long standing. Although perhaps not tested during early development, the active substances will have been used in animals either in the course of research or in their treatment.