§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what consideration has been given by the Committee on Safety of Medicines to the United States Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report dated January 1985, which was sent to the then Minister of Health by Mr. C. S. Harrington, the chairman of the National Reyes Syndrome Foundation.
§ Mrs. Currie[pursuant to her reply, 5 February 1987, c. 809]: At its meetings in March 1985 and April 1985, the Committee on Safety of Medicines considered all the
599Wavailable evidence, including the letter from Mr. Harrington and the United States Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, volumn 34, No. 1 1985, before concluding in April 1985 that the evidence available at that time had not established a causal link between aspirin and Reye's syndrome.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many young persons have been reported as suffering from Reyes syndrome since 1981; and what change there has been in the incidence of the syndrome following the official advice in June 1986 that aspirin should not be given to children.
§ Mrs. Currie[pursuant to her reply, 5 February 1987, c. 809]:
The number of cases of Reyes syndrome in the British Isles reported to the British Reyes syndrome surveillance scheme in children aged under 16 years' for each calendar year since reports began in August 1981 is as follows:—
4Year Gross 2Net 1981 15 13 1982 36 29 1983 54 49 1984 106 92 1985 55 50 1986 63 351 1 Data are not collected for persons aged 16 years or over. 2 Gross totals adjusted to take account of cases where follow-up information shows the original diagnosis to be incorrect. 3 The net total for 1986 may have to be adjusted as follow-up information becomes available. 4 The year of report may not equate to the date of onset of the illness because many months may elapse before a report is made on a suspected case. The gross number of reports received during the second half of 1986(39) exceeds the gross total for the corresponding period in 1985(16) but is less than that in the same period in 1984(42). When considering trends, it should be noted that an improved methodology for collecting data was introduced by the newly formed British paediatric surveillance unit in July 1986, when active canvassing of paediatricians was intensified.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the cost of the British Reye's syndrome surveillance scheme for each year that it has existed; what has been the additional cost of the risk factor study; who has paid for the surveillance scheme and the study; what contribution to their costs have come from public funds; how the surveillance scheme currently is being funded, and what steps are being taken to ensure that future funding is adequate.
§ Mrs. Currie[pursuant to her reply, 5 February 1987, c. 809]: 1 am informed by the Public Health Laboratory Service that the estimated annual cost of the British Reye's syndrome surveillance scheme was as follows:
Year Estimate Cost £ 1981–82 5,000 1982–83 8,000 1983–84 8,500 1984–85 9,000 1985–86 10,000 The costs for each year up to and including 1984–85 were met entirely from the budget of the Public Health Laboratory Service. The pharmaceutical company
600WSchering Plough Corporation contributed £630 towards the costs in 1985–86, via the National Reye's Syndrome Foundation with PHLS meeting the balance. The total contribution to the PHLS promised by Schering Plough is £30,218 which it is providing by three equal annual payments, via the National Reye's Syndrome Foundation, starting in January 1986; the proportion of this allotted to the Reye's syndrome surveillance scheme is £7,554 at the rate of £2,418 a calendar year. In addition to this annual payment, the costs in the current financial year are being met by the PH LS (approximately £10,000) and the British paediatric surveillance unit which, from 1 July 1986, has been meeting the costs of postage and stationery for canvassing paediatricians for cases of Reye's syndrome. The Public Health Laboratory Service board has agreed to continue funding the surveillance scheme until at least September 1988.
The estimated cost of the Reye's syndrome risk factor study, from January 1984 until it finished in December 1985, was around £60,000 of which the pharmaceutical industry contributed £39,766 made up as follows:
£ Sterling Winthrop 27,766 Boots 6,000 Aspirin Foundation 6,000 The balance of around £20,000 came from public funds and was borne on the PHLS budget.