Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the Sky News documentary <i>Primodos: The Secret Drugs Scandal</i>; and whether they will consider establishing a public inquiry into the alleged failure of the regulator at that time to protect public safety.

An Expert Working Group of the Commission on Human Medicines is conducting a comprehensive scientific review on the evidence for a possible causal association between Hormone Pregnancy Tests (HPTs), including Primodos, and birth defects. Any important new evidence identified in the Sky News documentary will be reviewed by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and provided to the Expert Working Group for their consideration and advice.

While the evidence for any association between HPTs and congenital defects is still under consideration it would be premature to comment on the need for a public inquiry.

The Government is not providing any funding to researchers in Cambridge or Aberdeen who are examining the composition of the drug Primodos and its likely effects on the child in the womb.