§ Mr. McCrindleasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he intends to introduce a national systematic monitoring system for new drugs; and if he will make a statement;
(2) if he will require that when details of the known side effects of drugs are recorded by general practitioners, details of the patient's other ailments should also be recorded; and if he will make a statement;
(3) if he has any plans to expand the trials of prescription-event monitoring; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeDoctors report adverse reactions to new and established drugs to the Committee on Safety of Medicines by means of a standard form known as "the Yellow Card". The form requests doctors to record all the drugs the patient is taking, the conditions for which they are prescribed and all the suspected reactions. A working party of the Committee on Safety of Medicines is currently considering techniques of post marketing surveillance in addition to the Yellow Card scheme, including prescription event monitoring. Its report on this should be completed next year.