Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review: Sodium Valproate

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd March 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, I pay tribute to those who have put together the valproate registry scheme that became live on 11 February. My noble friend is entirely right. There are 22,095 people on the registry; 462 of them had 490 conceptions, and 180 women were prescribed in a month when they were pregnant. A redress scheme is not necessarily the correct solution to this problem. We are considering it extremely carefully, and when we publish our overall response to the Cumberlege review we will include our considered response to the redress suggestion

[Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Lab) [V]]

My Lords, the noble Baroness, Lady Cumberlege, concluded in her report that the system still did not know how to minimise the risk of future babies being damaged, despite 27,000 women of childbearing age currently taking valproate in the United Kingdom. In view of that, does it not make the case for a redress scheme absolutely persuasive?

[Lord Bethell (Con)]

My Lords, I will leave it to the response to the Cumberlege review to make the decision on the redress scheme. In the meantime, our focus is on a regime ensuring that those who take this important drug have the right advice to prevent them becoming pregnant. I emphasise that specialists review the treatment and ensure that an annual risk acknowledgment form is signed by the prescriber and the patient. This is an important measure ensuring that all those who take this potentially life-changing drug acknowledge and understand the implications of becoming pregnant.