Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 17 May 2021 to Question 638, on Independent Review, what assessment the Government has made of the causal association between (a) Thalidomide and (b) oral hormone pregnancy tests with congenital malformations; and what comparative assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of awarding financial support to people affected by (a) Thalidomide and (b) oral hormone pregnancy tests.

Thalidomide is a powerful human teratogen, inducing a high frequency of severe and life-threatening birth defects. Many lines of evidence have confirmed the causal link of exposure to thalidomide in pregnancy with congenital malformations. Consequently, thalidomide must never be used by women who are pregnant or by women who could become pregnant unless all the conditions of the Pregnancy Prevention Programme are met. The evidence for a possible causal association between hormone pregnancy tests (HPTs) and birth defects was considered by an Expert Working Group of the Commission on Human Medicines which published its findings on 15 November 2017. Based on this review, the Expert Working Group concluded that based on the totality of the data, the scientific evidence does not support a causal association between the use of HPTs and birth defects or miscarriage.

Work is ongoing to consider recommendation 4 of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review report, which included a proposed redress scheme for hormone pregnancy tests. This work includes looking at a range of existing schemes, including for thalidomide.