MP ‘smells very large rat’ over hormone pregnancy tests review
A FORMER TORY Health Minister has said she smells “something like a very large rat” and raised concerns about a cover-up in an official review into hormone pregnancy tests.
Anna Soubry called for a debate in Parliament on the review by the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM), which found use of the drugs was not responsible for serious birth defects experienced by some families. The CHM expert working group on hormone pregnancy tests (HPT) said the scientific evidence does “not support a causal association” between the use of HPTs such as Primodos and birth defects or miscarriage.
Health Minister Steve Brine said the expert group had reviewed all the evidence and was better qualified to make a judgment than MPs. Ms Soubry said: “Could I suggest that we have a proper backbench debate about this to exorcise all these issues? Because with great respect to this working party, having had some experience as a former Public Health Minister and knowing about contaminated blood, I’m afraid to say I smell something like a very large rat in all of this and I think there have been cover-ups in it.”
Shadow Health Minister Justin Madders said the decision had been met with “disbelief ” by campaigners and branded “a whitewash, an injustice, a betrayal”. He added: “Have we learned nothing from previous scandals and cover-ups?”
In reply, Mr Brine said: “This was a comprehensive, independent scientific review of all available evidence by experts of a broad range of specialisms who, with respect, are far more qualified to consider this than him or me.
“It was a rigorous, an important, an impartial review conducted over the best part of two years, where experts were given access to all the available documents.”
The comments came as Mr Brine answered a question from Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi.