§ Mr. John EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what, to the knowledge of his Department, is the deadline for claims for compensation for women injured by the Dalkon shield;
(2) if his Department will make moneys available to regional health authorities in order that they may carry out locally based advertising campaigns alerting women to any rights they may have in regard to compensation for injuries caused by the Dalkon shield;
(3) how many British women have, to the knowledge of his Department, registered claims for compensation against the manufacturers of the Dalkon shield;
(4) if he will list in the Official Report any publicity conducted by the manufacturers of the Dalkon shield in the United Kingdom.
§ Mrs. CurrieIn the years following their voluntary withdrawal of the Dalkon shield from the United Kingdom market, the manufacturers A. H. Robins have written to doctors on a number of occasions and have placed advertisements in the women's press. In early 1986 the company conducted media publicity, in accordance with the directions of the United States bankruptcy court, to publicise the deadline of 30 April 1986 for filing claims. We understand that claims were subsequently received from over 3,000 British women.
We are aware of no subsequent court directions on publicity but we understand that a trust established in the United States has set aside compensation funds for claims received before 31 December 1988 which are successful.
Decisions about funding local advertising campaigns are for individual health authorities.