§ Ms CorstonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many reports of suspected adverse reactions associated with Lariam were reported to the Medicines Control Agency in each year from 1990 to 1997. [15456]
§ Ms. JowellThe numbers of suspected adverse reactions reported to the Committee on Safety of Medicines and the Medicines Control Agency from 1 January 1990 to 31 December 1997 for mefloquine (brand name, Lariam) as the suspect drug in the United Kingdom are given in the table:
Year Total number of suspected adverse reactions Number of reports 1990 54 19 1991 58 27 1992 52 22 1993 183 73 1994 597 227 1995 1,233 447 1996 1,361 455 1997 (up to 11 November 1997) 445 159 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 exceeds the number of patients affected as seen above.