§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the Posner report on genetically engineered human insulin commissioned by the British Diabetic Association in 1993. [83336]
§ Ms JowellThe Department and the Medicines Control Agency have evaluated the Posner Report together with all available evidence on the safety of human insulin. The independent advisory body to Government, the Committee on Safety of Medicines, has also fully reviewed the safety of human insulin on several occasions since its introduction, taking into account patient experiences of the effects of human insulin. The Committee has concluded that although some patients have experienced problems on transferring to human insulins and are better suited to animal insulins, there is no evidence of a safety problem specific to human insulin.