FETAL VALPROATE SYNDROME

Motion Text

That this House notes with concern the recent refusal by the Minister for Care and Support of a public inquiry into why information was withheld concerning the disastrous way in which sodium valproate has affected pregnant women and their children; further notes the cost to the public purse of additional health, education and welfare costs incurred by families affected by Fetal Valproate Syndrome; believes that the regulator could have avoided such costs and large numbers of people affected since sodium valproate was licensed and sold from 1973; further believes that its makers, the pharmaceutical company Sanofi, failed in its duty of care and corporate responsibility by not informing the relevant agencies of its teratogenic effects; welcomes the Minister's recent decision to meet representatives of the Independent Fetal Anti-Convulsant Trust; and urges the holding of a public inquiry.