§ Mr. ChurchillTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the respects in which the new medical information advanced as the basis for the change in the rules governing war disablement pension in respect of deafness differs from that set out in the sensorineural hearing loss medical appendix, paragraph 12.2, issued by the Department of Social Security; and when that appendix was first issued. [8948]
§ Mr. HealdMedical appendices summarise the consensus of current medical opinion on the particular topic. They emphasise the aetiology of the condition. That on sensorineural hearing loss, issued in 1993, to which the question refers, describes the various causes of that condition, including noise. Paragraph 12.2 refers to the process by which noise damages hearing. It states that once exposure to excessive loss has ceased, the hearing loss resulting from that noise exposure does not of itself worsen.
371WThe appendix does not, however, deal with the effect of a noise-induced hearing loss on any subsequent hearing loss, which is the subject of the recent development in understanding. It was previously thought that an existing service-related noise-induced hearing loss could intensify the effect of a subsequent hearing loss due to other causes, such as aging. Authoritative medical opinion is now that such interaction does not occur, and that the effect of a service-related noise-induced hearing loss is at its greatest at release from service.
§ Mr. ChurchillTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many war disablement pensioners have had their entitlement in respect of deafness (i) reduced and (ii) ended to date; and what estimate he has made of the number whose entitlement will be(a) reduced and (b) ended in (1) 1996–97 and (2) 1997–98 in consequence of the rate changes announced on 5 December. [9032]
§ Mr. HealdNo war pensioner has had, or will have, his pension reduced or ended as a result of the change in medical opinion announced on 5 December 1996.