§ Mr. Conlanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services in what circumstances it has been decided to 938W withdraw all supplies of pituitary-derived human growth hormone; if there are any cases known to his Department of Creutzfeld-Jakob disease arising from the use of human growth hormone; how many patients are affected by the withdrawal of supplies; and what arrangements are being made for the treatment of these patients.
§ Mr. John PattenSupplies of human growth hormone derived from pituitary extract have been withdrawn on the advice of the Advisory Committee on National Pituitary Collection because of the risk of transmission of Creutzfeld-Jakob disease. The Department is aware of three cases in other countries where such transmission is thought to have occurred, and there is one case under investigation in this country. Prior to withdrawal growth hormone treatment was being provided for approximately 800 children. Sufficient synthetic human growth hormone is available for the treatment of the very small number of children for whom growth hormone supplementation is life saving.