§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the number of suspected adverse reactions to liquid paraffin reported to the Medicines Control Agency for each of the last five years for which figures are available separately identifying the number of suspected adverse reactions relating to cancer. [19273]
§ Mr. MaloneThe information requested is shown in the table.
Numbers of suspected adverse reactions reported to the Committee on Safety of Medicines from 1 January 1992 to 31 December 1996 for paraffin liquid in the United Kingdom Year All suspected adverse reactions (serious and non-serious) where paraffin liquid was indicated as a suspect drug Number of reports where liquid paraffin was indicated as a suspect drug 1992 2 1 1993 2 2 1994 0 0 1995 0 0 1996 5 4 None of these reactions were related to cancer. A report of a suspected adverse drug reaction does not necessarily mean that it was caused by the drug. Each report relates to one patient. Patients may have more than one suspected reaction and the number of reactions given usually exceeds the number of patients affected as seen above.