Oral Evidence Mar. 19 2024
Inquiry: Proposals for backbench debatesFound: In fact, it is not even possible to prove a causal link because, as with thalidomide, you would have
Asked by: Dan Carden (Labour - Liverpool, Walton)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to take steps to implement recommendations in the report by the APPG on Hormone Pregnancy Test entitled Bitter Pill: Primodos - the forgotten thalidomide, published on 27 February 2024.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We remain hugely sympathetic to the families who believe that they have suffered because of using Hormone Pregnancy Tests (HPTs). In 2017 an independent Expert Working Group (EWG) conducted a comprehensive review of the available scientific evidence and concluded that the data did not support a causal association between the use of HPTs, such as Primodos, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. This remains the Government’s position. The Government has committed to reviewing any new evidence related to HPTs and a possible causal association with adverse pregnancy outcomes.
On the recently published recommendations of the HPT All-Party Parliamentary Group, we have no plans to set up an independent review to examine the findings of the EWG. In the interests of transparency, all evidence collected and papers considered by the EWG were published in 2018, along with full minutes of its discussions. Details of conflicts of interests and how these were managed were also published. The Government is reviewing Professor Danielsson’s publication to consider if it presents any new evidence or analyses not already considered by the EWG on HPTs, and will be seeking independent expert advice from the Commission on Human Medicines in due course.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential implications for her Department’s policies of the report by the APPG on Hormone Pregnancy Test entitled Bitter Pill: Primodos - the forgotten thalidomide, published on 27 February 2024.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We remain hugely sympathetic to the families who believe that they have suffered due to the use of Hormone Pregnancy Tests (HPTs). In 2017 an independent Expert Working Group conducted a comprehensive review of the available scientific evidence, and concluded that the data did not support a causal association between the use of HPTs, such as Primodos, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. This remains the Government’s position. The Government has committed to reviewing any new evidence related to HPTs, and a possible causal association with adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Asked by: Jeff Smith (Labour - Manchester, Withington)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will implement the recommendations in the report by the APPG on Hormone Pregnancy Test entitled Bitter Pill: Primodos - the forgotten thalidomide, published on 27 February 2024.
Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)
We remain hugely sympathetic to the families who believe that they have suffered due to the use of Hormone Pregnancy Tests (HPTs). In 2017 an independent Expert Working Group conducted a comprehensive review of the available scientific evidence, and concluded that the data did not support a causal association between the use of HPTs, such as Primodos, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. This remains the Government’s position. The Government has committed to reviewing any new evidence related to HPTs, and a possible causal association with adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Written Evidence Mar. 05 2024
Inquiry: Prevention in health and social careFound: Alcohol is a teratogen, like thalidomide, and the fetus cannot defend itself. 12.According to SIGN
Mentions:
1: Andrew Bridgen (Ind - North West Leicestershire) For posterity, we must remember that it was 11 years after the thalidomide scandal was exposed in 1961 - Speech Link
2: Andrew Bridgen (Ind - North West Leicestershire) we will see much the same, following the roll-out of the covid-19 vaccines, as we saw with Vioxx and thalidomide - Speech Link
Oral Evidence Feb. 06 2024
Inquiry: Prevention in health and social careFound: It does what thalidomide did. It does what some other things do.
Mentions:
1: Andrew Bridgen (Ind - North West Leicestershire) It took 11 years after the drug was withdrawn in 1961 for the thalidomide scandal to be first raised - Speech Link
Dec. 11 2023
Source Page: Correspondence regarding review and update of gender reassignment protocol: FOI releaseFound: exploration and minimising intervention - will go down as a medical scandal as bad as lobotomy or thalidomide
Nov. 28 2023
Source Page: Clinical Impact Awards 2022: personal statementsFound: predicted for all procedures and a focus on high- risk cases 2) I was appointed to the board of The Thalidomide