http://www.unison.ie/stories.php3?ti=41&ca=9&si=462439&issue_id=4755

 

Minister to seek fast answers on vaccines shock

 

HEALTH Minister Micheál Martin told the Dail he was as shocked as everyone else by the revelations in yesterday's Irish Independent that animal vaccine was injected into babies during clinical trials carried out in the 1970s.

Mr Martin said: "I am shocked that this could happen and on a previous occasion in relation to a similar, related matter I stated in the House that children should never be used as guinea pigs in any trial, particularly without the consent of guardians or parents."

The minister also said regarding the matter of trials carried out by Wellcome in a community setting as well as on children in care, this issue obviously must now be addressed as well.

To date the emphasis had been on clinical trials within orphanages and industrial schools.

Mr Martin said the department contacted the Irish Medicines Board yesterday and it was concentrating on securing information from the company regarding the allegations made in the newspaper and he wanted "fast answers".

Mr Martin said he wanted to stress this issue is not related to the current immunisation programme. He felt it was important to reassure parents, health professionals and the general public about the safety of current vaccines.

Labour deputy Liz McManus said clarification was needed as to the role of the health boards. And Fine Gael deputy Denis Naughten asked how positive the minister was that the Irish Medicines Board would be any more successful on this occasion than it was in the past in eliciting information from Wellcome, now Glaxo Smithkline.

He said given that there were more than 80 adverse reactions, as reported in the Independent, recorded in the first six months of 1973 why did the National Drugs Advisory Board records note only two suspected adverse reactions for the whole year, none of which had a lot number.

Deputy John Gormley of the Green Party asked if the minister accepted there were parents with "well-founded, well-informed concerns about vaccination and he asked if the minister would not put forward proposals to discriminate against such parents or children that were not vaccinated. Mr Martin said he respected the right of parents to make a choice. These choices have to be made in consultation with the family GP - as Minister for Health he is an advocate of immunisation. He accepted there are not "black and white positions".

Deep concern at revelations

In a statement Glaxo Smith Kline said it learned yesterday "for the first time via a press article in the Irish Independent of an allegation that a veterinary vaccine from the company, Wellcome, may have been administered in error to an Irish child in the early 1970s".

The company said it would "like to express deep concern at the allegations raised in this article". They confirmed it the company has initiated an investigation into the matter and wanted further information.

Geraldine Collins Dail Correspondent

ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.