§ Mr. TylerTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when the report on the Survey of Health and Pesticide Exposure, being carried out by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and funded by her Department, is due to be published. [174664]
1624W
§ Alun MichaelLast July the Organophosphate Information Network informed Defra of its concerns over the conduct of the clinical phase of the study. The Department took these concerns seriously and decided to commission an independent audit of this phase of the study. On the recommendation of the Association of British Neurologists, Professor Kerry Mills from King's College Hospital London, was asked to carry out the audit. Professor Mills' prior commitments and correspondence between the physicians involved, resulted in the audit being started on 19 April this year. This process may take six months to complete.
During the past few days my Department has asked both the hon. Member for North Cornwall and Mrs. Elizabeth Sigmund, the Chair of the Organophosphate Information Network (OPIN), for their opinions on this matter. Following this consultation, I have decided that an interim report should be published pending the completion of the audit.