§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he made of the interests held by Professor Breckenridge when appointing him to the Subcommittee on Pharmacovigilance. [179675]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonProfessor Sir Alistair Breckenridge was appointed as chairman of the Pharmacovigilance Sub-committee of the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) from 1 January 1996 and served in that post until 31 December 1998. Until the end of 1997 he had declared personal interests in SmithKline and Beecham as a member of its Scientific Advisory Committee. It is acceptable for members of medicines advisory committees, and chairmen and members of sub-committees to hold interests in the pharmaceutical industry so long as they are declared publicly.
Members of all of the Medicines Act Advisory committees are required to follow a code of practice on declarations of interests in the pharmaceutical industry. Both the code and the individual details of members' interests are published annually in the advisory bodies' reports. Copies are available in the Library and are also available on the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's web site (www.mhra.gov.uk). The code of practice sets out the types of interests that should be declared and also provides a framework for ensuring that conflicts of interests are avoided in the course of the advisory bodies' work. A legal adviser attends every meeting of the advisory bodies and ensures that the code is complied with.
1559WProfessor Sir Alistair Breckenridge was appointed as chairman of the CSM from 1 January 1999 until 31 March 2003. He has had no interests in the pharmaceutical industry since the end of 1997.