CJD (Hansard, 21 December 2000)

§ Mr. Wigley
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what compensation payments will be made to(a) the families of those who have died from CJD and (b) those suffering from this condition. [141370]

§ Yvette Cooper
On publication of the BSE Inquiry Report the Government announced their intention to establish a compensation scheme for victims of variant CJD and their families. Negotiations with the families and their legal representatives have started and are still under way.

§ Mr. Martyn Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the publication "Diagnosis and Incidence of Prion (Creutzfeldt-Jakob) Disease: A Retrospective Archival Survey with Implications for Future Research", published in Neurodegeneration, Vol 4, pp 357–368 (1995). [142267]

§ Yvette Cooper
This article, published in 1995, concluded that human prion disease might be more common than previously supposed, and that a further review of the epidemiology of the disease was required. Since then a number of research projects have been put in place to ascertain the extent to which cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) or variant CJD (vCJD) might have been missed. These includeA comprehensive examination of the Corsellis brain collection to identify any possible unidentified cases of prion disease (Dr. S. M. Gentleman, London); Neuropathological spectrum of human transmissible spongiform encephalopathies: relationship with atypical dementias: a national retrospective review (national study in various centres, co-ordinated by Professor J. W. Ironside, Edinburgh); Development of model for neuropathological surveillance of the elderly population (Professor J. Lowe, Nottingham); Multisource surveillance for all cases of Progressive Intellectual and Neuropathological Deterioration (PIND) occurring in children in the UK (Dr. C. Verity, Cambridge; Survey of Oxford autopsy brain tissue for evidence of CJD; Possible under-ascertainment of vCJD: a systematic retrospective study.
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Results from these studies to date have not revealed significant missed diagnosis of CJD or vCJD. The Department, however, takes very a seriously the need to ensure that no cases are missed and to that end is working closely with the National CJD Surveillance Unit and others to encourage continued vigilance in the health care sector.