PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
VICTIMS OF ADDICTION FROM ANTI-DEPRESSANT DRUGS AND TRANQUILLISERS (8 March 1995)

That this House, whilst welcoming the enormous breakthrough in the capacity of the pharmaceutical industry to discover and develop new drugs to alleviate and minimise the impact of depression and related diseases, is nevertheless concerned that the energetic sales promotion devoted to the marketing of some of these agents has not been matched by either adequate clinical trials or appropriate cautioning of general practitioners, and more importantly, patients, that sedatives, stimulants, tranquillisers and many other drugs can have addictive qualities together with detrimental side effects that can compound the ill health of a patient rather than contribute to the control, alleviation, or cure of illness; calls upon the Secretary of State for Health to establish an independent review body charged with examining the scale and consequences of addiction and other side effects arising from the dispensing of drugs introduced onto the market in the past 25 years; and requests that she introduce legislation to ensure that individuals who have suffered addiction and other adverse side effects can benefit from the compulsory disclosure of research and information obtained by the drugs producers during clinical trials together with any subsequent evidence and research obtained, and that legal aid shall be available for those preparing individual or group actions for compensation arising from addiction and related side effects.

Sponsored by:
Andrew Mackinlay (Labour)