§ Mr. Hindasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether his Department has issued guidance to doctors that the use and dosage of streptomycin should be scaled down.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWe have not issued such advice. The use of streptomycin has declined as alternative antibiotic therapies have become available.
§ Mr. Hindasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will take steps to alert foreign medical services of the side effects of the use of streptomycin.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWe make information on adverse drug reactions reported in the United Kingdom available routinely to other national drug regulatory agencies through the World Health Organisation. Streptomycin has been on the market for many years and its benefits and possible adverse reactions are well known to doctors here and abroad.
§ Mr. Hindasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) how many people in Britain today are known to have tinnitus due to streptomycin;
51W(2) how many people in Britain today are known or suspected to suffer streptomycin-induced Meniere's disease.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeWe do not record this information centrally. It has been long established however, that streptomycin is toxic to the ears and a warning to this effect is including in prescribing literature for streptomycin.