§ Mr. AshleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will request all health regions which have not already done so to seek out those women who were prescribed Dalkon shields and inform them that it is still possible to claim compensation if they were damaged by it;
(2) what steps he intends to take to publicise the fact that the date for filing late Dalkon shield compensation claims has been extended to 31 July.
§ Mr. FreemanWe have no plans for Government intervention in relation to this matter of litigation in the United States courts. For the initial claims deadline, the court itself directed, and approved, publicity by the Dalkon shield manufacturers. Further extensions of the deadline have received independent media publicity. It is for individual health authorities to decide whether they wish to direct their resources to specific activity on this matter. Our longstanding advice has been that they should be as helpful as possible with regard to the release of information.