International

Parliament today voted in favour of a proposal from SP Member of Parliament Henk van Gerven all of the results of research into the effects of medicines on human beings must be made public. ‘Thanks to this proposal firms will no longer be able to sweep negative results under the carpet,’ says Van Gerven. ‘Scientific research will in this way be improved and made safer.’

For years the SP has fought to have the pharmaceutical industry’s research data made public. The interests of the pharmaceutical sector are extensive. A notorious example of lack of openness concerned the concealment of serious side effects of antidepressants in children, including suicides and addiction. In trials in England of a medicine which was thought potentially effective against leukaemia, six volunteers almost died, despite the serious side effects being known from previous research.

Because of this, former SP spokeswoman on health issues Agnes Kant, who went on to lead the party, called in 2006 in a parliamentary initiative note for openness in relation to all medical trials conducted on human beings. Parliament’s support for Henk van Gerven’s proposal puts Kant’s proposal into effect.