HC Deb 15 July 1991 vol 195 cc67-8W
Mr. Cousins

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the date on which his Department, his medicine control bodies or his public health services first became aware of a possible link between growth hormone and Creutzfeld-Jakob disease.

Mr. Dorrell

On 11 April 1985 the chairman of the health services human growth hormone committee informed the Department that he had learned from the United States of America of the death from CreutzfeldJakob disease of three patients who had received human growth hormone therapy. A meeting of the committee was

Region Allocation (to 30 June 1991) (£000)
South West Thames 388
Wessex 380
Oxford 258
South Western 323
West Midlands 713
Mersey 575
North Western 475
Total allocation to regions 6,378

arranged for 9 May. At that meeting it was reported that the Untied States Federal Drugs Agency had withdrawn the use of human growth hormone therapy on 19 April. The committee decided to withdraw the therapy from use in the United Kingdom; human growth assessment centres were notified immediately. Regional health authorities were informed of the decision and the background to it on 10 June 1985.

Mr. Cousins

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the study into the incidence of Creutzfeld-Jakob disease he is funding to be completed; and if he will make it his policy to place it in the Library.

Mr. Dorrell

It will be necessary to continue the study into the incidence of Creutzfeld-Jakob disease (CJD) for a decade or more. The author, Dr. R.G. Will, is expected to make the full results available through the usual scientific channels. We have agreed to make an annual report on the incidence of CJD available to the House. The available data on suspected cases who died in 1990 shows that 10 have been confirmed as CJD with a further nine probable and 13 possible cases, most of which are awaiting the results of neuropathology. Reliable data on the previous incidence of CJD is limited, but there is no evidence to show it is increasing.

Mr. Cousins

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the policy of the blood transfusion service on the donation of blood by sufferers from Creutzfeld-Jakob's disease.

Mr. Dorrell

There is no evidence that Creutzfeld-Jakob disease can be transmitted in blood or blood products, but people who suffer from CJD or are at special risk of contracting the disease are not accepted as blood donors.