asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he is satisfied with the re-assurances given by the manufacturer of cimetidine that it does not cause gastric cancer; if his Department will undertake to make an ex gratia payment to any patient who contracts cancer after being prescribed cimetidine within the National Health Service; and if he will make a statement.

There is no evidence from long-term safety studies in animals that cimetidine is likely to cause an increased risk of gastric cancer. Adverse reactions to marketed drugs are carefully monitored by the Committee on Safety of Medicines, and no evidence has become available through adverse reaction reports to give concern on this account in the time that cimetidine has been on the market. The manufacturer advises that it is important to exclude malignancy before treatment with cimetidine since the drug may alleviate the symptoms of such a cancer and thus delay diagnosis and treatment.Under the law as it stands, liability to pay compensation is a matter for the parties directly concerned—that is the