§ Lord Morris of Manchesterasked Her Majesty's Government: Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Bach on 9 October (WA 67), whether, and, if so, when the companies supplying the Ministry of Defence with pertussis vaccines for use in vaccinating British troops in the 1990–91 Gulf conflict were informed by the ministry of the unlicensed use for which they were purchased; and where, in the view of the Law Officers, legal liability lies in cases where unlicensed use of a vaccine is held to have damaged the health of a service man or woman to whom it was administered or to have constituted a significant health hazard. [HL76]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)I will write to my noble friend in answer to his question about pertussis vaccines and a copy of my letter will be placed in the Library of the House. There is a longstanding convention that neither the substance of Law Officers' advice, nor the fact that they have been consulted, is publicly disclosed. This is consistent with paragraphs 2 and 4(d) of Part II of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.