§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how long the family planning experts on the Committee on Safety of Medicines were given before the committee's meeting on 13 October 1995 to review the data on third generation oral contraceptives. [24969]
§ Mr. MaloneThe family planning experts who attended the meeting were sent the papers by express courier on 11 October for receipt by 10.30 am the following morning, with the exception of one expert who was aboard at the time and who was provided with a copy of the papers at the earliest opportunity.
§ Mr. HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on discussions between his Department and the British Medical Association on alternatives to the fax cascade system for alerting health professionals to urgent public health information; what is the expected timetable; and when he expects to have a new system in place. [24949]
§ Mr. HoramThe chief medical officer met the British Medical Association and other medical organisations on 28 February 1996 to discuss arrangements for transmitting urgent communications to doctors and how these might be improved. The current arrangements use an electronic system via telephone lines to transmit urgent messages to directors of public health who then cascade the message to relevant health professionals. Alternative methods were discussed but the profession's representatives did not consider any would improve the present arrangements until the Department is fully connected to the message handling application of the NHS—wide networking system. The technology is now in place for health authorities and other NHS institutions to connect to this system and this is being actively encouraged.
§ Mr. HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions(a) his Department, (b) the Committee on Safety of Medicines and (c) the Medicines Control Agency had with the product licence holders of the third generation 488W oral contraceptives which were the subject of the safety warning issued in October 1995, between 4 July and October 1995; and if he will make a statement. [24970]
§ Mr. MaloneInformation about discussions held with pharmaceutical companies about their products is treated in confidence under the Medicines Act 1968.