§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the recent report from Bio Products Laboratory that plasma from a person later found to have vCJD had been used in the manufacture of clotting factor for the treatment of National Health Service patients with haemophilia, how many people have been affected by the finding; what individual advice and counselling have been given to patients who may be affected; and what further action they are taking. [HL448]
§ Lord Hunt of Kings HeathNo information is held centrally on the number of patients with haemophilia who received clotting factor made from plasma donated by the individual who later developed vCJD. Haemophilia centre directors were notified in December 2000 of the batch numbers of the clotting factor and are in the process of identifying the recipients from their patient records. The UK Haemophilia Doctors Association, in consultation with the: Department of Health, has agreed a policy of giving all haemophilia patients information about the incident and offering them a choice to know if they or their children received the implicated clotting factor. Counselling and advice to patients will be provided by haemophilia centres. The Government have asked an expert panel to consider as a matter of urgency how such incidents should be managed in future.
In 1998, the Government took the step of ceasing to use UK plasma in the manufacture of blood products
38WAservices as a principal. Similarly doctors employed under the salaried doctor scheme cannot work past the age of 70. Numbers of GP principals who will reach the age of 70 in each of the next five years are set out in the table. However these do not take account of doctors who may retire before age 70 by choice or for medical or other reasons, nor is any allowance made for those GPs who may exercise the option to retire and so claim their pension and gratuity but who may return to the HA medical list 28 days later and continue working until they fully retire. In addition there is no retirement age for doctors employed in personal medical services pilots, as assistants or as locums.
as a precautionary measure against the theoretical risk that vCJD can be transmitted in this way.