§ Mr. LivingstoneTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether service personnel who took part in the service volunteers programme at the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment can have access to the laboratory and scientific records of experiments and studies in which they participated. [31957]
§ Mr. SoamesThis matter is for the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, under its framework document. I have asked the chief executive, DERA to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from John Chisholm to Mr. Ken Livingstone, dated 6 July 1995:
Your question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking whether the Service Personnel who were Volunteers at the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment (CBDE) can have access to the laboratory and scientific records of the experiments in which they participated has been passed to me to reply as Chief Executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA), which since April, includes CBDE as one of its divisions.2. It is a long standing policy of CBDE to provide details, on request, of the studies in which a Service volunteer participated to the medical practitioners who are responsible for the medical care of the individual concerned. The medical practitioner can then take into account activities undertaken at CBDE in their ongoing care for their patient. Former volunteers who have written directly to CBDE requesting information on the studies undertaken are also given an outline of the type of investigation in which they participated, but more detailed information is only released to qualified medical personnel with a direct responsibility for the individual.3. I hope this information is helpful.
§ Mr. LivingstoneTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what medical countermeasures to protect service personnel have been developed by the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment since 1980 following368W studies and tests with service volunteers. [31971]
§ Mr. SoamesThis matter is for the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, under its framework document. I have asked the chief executive, DERA to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from John Chisholm to Mr. Ken Livingstone, dated 6 July 1995:
Your question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking what medical countermeasures have been developed by the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment (CBDE) since 1980 following studies and tests with Service volunteers has been passed to me to reply as the Chief Executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) which, since April, incudes CBDE as one of its divisions.2. The nature of the medical countermeasures available to defend the United Kingdom Armed Forces against the threat posed by chemical and biological warfare agents continues to be a sensitive matter. The knowledge of countermeasures clearly diminishes their value and I am not, therefore, able to go into detail. I can, however, say that some of the studies undertaken using Service volunteers have enabled the development of an improved combined therapy auto-injector used to combat the post-attack symptoms of nerve agent poisoning.3. I hope this information is helpful to you.
§ Mr. LivingstoneTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service volunteers were involved in studies with the MK 4 overboot at the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment at Porton Down; when these studies were carried out; what was the nature and conclusion of these studies; under which defence agreement the results of these studies were shared with other countries; and when these overboots were issued for use by the armed forces. [31959]
§ Mr. SoamesThis matter is for the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, under its framework document. I have asked the chief executive, DERA to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from John Chisholm to Mr. Ken Livingstone, dated 6 July 1995:
Your question to the Secretary of State for Defence about the studies on the Mk 4 overboot at the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment (CBDE) has been passed to me to reply as Chief Executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) which, since April, has included CBDE as one of its divisions.2. The development of the Mark 4 overboot began in the late 1970's. CBDE's contribution to the programme was to provide general advice on design and material testing. Studies of this nature involved no use of Service volunteers by CBDE. Wearer trials to determine the acceptability of the new design for use in military operations were conducted for the programme's sponsoring branch, the Directorate of Clothing and Textiles, by the Defence Nuclear Biological Chemical Centre at Winterbourne Gunner.3. The development of the Mk 4 overboot was carried out wholly by the United Kingdom and the results of studies undertaken as part of the programme were not shared with other nations.4. The Mark 4 overboot was accepted into service in 1984 and the first production run was completed in 1986.5. I hope this is helpful.
§ Mr. LivingstoneTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what grounds it was considered necessary to create an Independent Ethics Committee in July 1991 to oversee the service volunteer programme at the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment, Porton Down; why the previous committee of Porton Down medical officers was set up; on what date it was set up; and if the 369W Committee of Porton Down Medical Officers ever exercised its veto on human experiments. [31960]
§ Mr. ArbuthnotThe creation of the Independent Ethics Committee in July 1991, followed the publication of guidelines from the Royal College of Physicians. The previously existing committees were subsumed into it in order to ensure that the CBDE continued to follow best practice. No studies involving service volunteers can be conducted without the approval of the committee, which reviews the protocols to ensure that every study has a clear military justification and a risk assessment has been carried out.
The Committee on the Safety of Human Experiments, whose membership included the medical officers of CBDE, was set up in 1963 by the then Director, Mr E. E. Haddon. The reason is believed to be the concern expressed internationally regarding the ethics of human experimentation, reflected in the 1964 declaration of Helsinki.
The committee had the right to veto studies, but more importantly was the focus for modifying protocols and maintaining the register of work. Studies could not start without the permission of the committee, which was subsumed into the IEC.
§ Mr. LivingstoneTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how long Professor Hugh Dudley has been the chair of ethics committee overseeing the service volunteers programme at the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment, Porton Down; who else is currently serving on this committee; how many members of Porton Down staff serve on this committee and what post they hold within Porton Down; if the committee has the right to veto experiments involving service volunteers; in what years the committee has met more than four times since its inception and what the reason for this was; and if he will place all the minutes of this committee since its inception in the Library. [31975]
§ Mr. ArbuthnotProfessor Dudley has been the chairman of the Independent Ethics Committee since its inception in 1991 in response to the Royal College of Physicians' guidelines for experiments involving human subjects. The committee consists of 11 members, nine of whom are drawn from outside the MOD. The external members of the committee include representatives of the medical and legal profession, senior academics and lay people. The senior military officer and the technical director of the CBDE are the only members of the CBDE staff who are members of the committee. No studies involving service volunteers can be conducted without the approval of the ethnic committee.
The panel has not yet found it necessary to meet on more than four occasions in a year, but provision remains for it to do so, if required. The minutes of this committee include matters which are of commercial and defence sensitivity and it would not be appropriate to place them in the Library of the House of Commons.