§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what is the membership of the working party established by the Committee on Safety of Medicines under the chairmanship of Professor Grahame-Smith; and what is the proposed time scale for its work;
(2) what are the terms of reference of the working party established by the Committee on Safety of Medicines under the chairmanship of Professor Grahame-Smith which is to consider proposals for improving the present system of drug surveillance; and if he will ensure that the working party can examine additional methods which would supplement the yellow card system and enable a quicker connection to be made between a drug and unexpected symptoms.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe terms of reference of the working party are
To consider how best the Committee on Safety of Medicines should fulfil its statutory functions of promoting the collection and investigation of information relating to adverse reactions for the purpose of enabling it to give advice on safety, quality or efficacy of medicinal products; and to make recommendations".The membership of the working party is as follows:
Chairman
- Professor D. G. Grahame-Smith
Members
- Professor A. Goldberg
- Professor M. P. Vessey
- Professor M. D. Rawlins
- Professor W. I. Cranston
- Professor D. W. Vere
- Dr. J. P. Griffin
- Dr. R. G. Penn
- Dr. C. J. Speirs
- Mr. P. Allen
The working party has decided to deal with its work in two stages: first, how the present system might be improved; and, second, considering alternative or additional ideas. It is likely that the first stage will be completed within a few months. No timetable has yet been fixed for the second part.