argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 — House of Lords, 2016-07-04
Topic: Health
David Prior (Conservative, Centre-right): There are of course many products which do have tamper-proof packaging and we cannot debate all the ones the noble Lord mentioned. It seems to me entirely reasonable that this particular product should be tamper-proof. If a child were to swallow nicotine in these kinds of volumes it would have a very serious impact. It is entirely reasonable to have tamper-proof packaging The Government have asked the MHRA, local authorities and others involved in the enforcement of these regulations to develop a compliance regime together with the businesses which are currently in this industry. We will take a pragmatic approach to implementing the new notification system. Notification fees are low—£150 per product and £60 annually as a top-up—and are set to recover costs only. The MHRA has also developed guidance that minimises the burden on business E-cigarettes are not harmless. Nicotine is both toxic and addictive and there are unanswered questions about the effects of longer-term use. It is better to vape than to smoke but it is far better to do neither. These regulations reduce the risk of harm to children and protect against the renormalisation of tobacco use. They provide assurance on relative safety for users and legal certainty for businesses that wish to sell these products across the EU. I also underline that the regulations have the full support of the four nations of the UK, as well as many of those in the health community that have been involved in tobacco reduction, including ASH, Cancer Research UK and the British Medical Association. The Royal College of Physicians agrees in its report on the need for regulation of e-cigarettes to protect the public, and states that although e-cigarettes are estimated to be in the order of 95% less harmful than smoked tobacco, they are not harmless Moving forward, the Government are committed to a full review of the functioning of the regulations, including—
Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 — House of Lords, 2016-07-04
Topic: Health
David Prior (Conservative, Centre-right): It is possible. There is always a possibility when there is a regulation that a black market will develop, and for the very high-strength products, which had to be regulated by the MHRA—the ones above 20 milligrams—there is a risk that there will be a black market. I think I recall that the noble Lord said earlier that a black market had already developed in this product. We are trying to bring some minimum quality standards, at least, into this market so that people who are thinking of moving from smoking to using e-cigarettes can have confidence that the product they use is regulated to a minimum standard I remind noble Lords that new and important tobacco control measures are also contained in these regulations. I have not talked about them specifically because they are slightly off the main point of this debate. The regulations will be reviewed within five years of entering into force. I also commit, here and now, to commissioning Public Health England to update its evidence report on e-cigarettes annually until the end of this Parliament and to include within its quit-smoking campaigns consistent messaging about the safety of e-cigarettes Clearly, there are strong arguments on both sides of the debate. As I said, I am not an instinctive regulator by any means but I feel that these regulations are proportionate. They do not go over the top, are entirely sensible and are backed by the RCP and all the major charities in this area. I hope that my noble friend Lord Callanan will not wish to push this to a vote, but of course that is entirely his decision.
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Jeffrey Smith (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend makes a really important point. It is about not just medicines and health, but a life sciences opportunity that we ought to take up. The problem is that, if people cannot get the product, which, as he says, is well manufactured and safe, easily on prescription, the risk is that they will go to the illicit market and get products that perhaps should not be trusted as much as a prescribed product Earlier this week, I spoke to a mother who has a daughter with treatment-resistant epilepsy and she pays £2,000 a month for her daughter’s medicine on a private prescription. One of my constituents pays nearly £700 a month for his grandson’s medicine. Epilepsy prescriptions can cost £1,000 to £1,500 a month—that is not unusual. Families of patients in the most urgent need often have to resort to support from crowdfunding or individual donors to keep their medicine going. It is just not right that patients have to resort to that for a prescribed medicine because they cannot get it on the NHS. As I mentioned, many others are forced to get their medicine through illicit means Much of the campaigning on this issue is still focused on children with treatment-resistant epilepsy; they have been the highest-profile cohort of patients and I suspect many of the contributions to the debate will focus on that cohort. However, I want to emphasise that they are not the only patients who would benefit from access to cannabis-based medicines. They are probably the cohort most acutely affected. For many of them, it is an urgent and high-stakes issue—sometimes, it can be literally the difference between life and death—so it is right that we focus some of our discussion on them. I will offer a couple of examples to illustrate the importance and the power of this medicine to that group and others. Those in that cohort are not the only ones who can benefit. In 2018, the then chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies, said that there is "conclusive evidence of the therapeutic benefit of cannabis based medicinal products for certain medical conditions" That is why she recommended that they should be moved out of schedule 1.
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Jeffrey Smith (Labour, Centre-left): The matter is not being resolved in the current processes, and that is part of the problem. I emphasise that I am not proposing a new permanent body; this would be a bit like a royal commission, although I would want it to be much shorter and more focused. It would be a commission of experts to look at the problem and propose a new framework for assessment of the evidence. That would, I hope, lead to a better process for licensing. I reassure the hon. Gentleman that I am not proposing any new bureaucracy The other part of my Bill proposes a register of GPs trained in cannabis-based medicine, who could prescribe cannabis-based medicines for certain conditions.
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Margaret Greenwood (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech, and I know both his speech and his Bill are very much welcomed by my constituents, particularly one who suffers from progressive myelopathy. He is in almost constant pain, and I know he would like to thank my hon. Friend for all his work. On the business of creating a register of GPs trained in prescribing medical cannabis, obviously GPs adopt different specialisms according to what they are interested in and so forth, so what mechanisms would we need to deal with a situation where somebody’s GP was not registered when they might nevertheless benefit from a prescription, and how that might be addressed?
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Antonia Louise Antoniazzi (Labour, Centre-left): As co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group for access to medical cannabis under prescription, I know very well the person and child described by the hon. Lady. Joanne deserves better. Ben deserves better. I am so pleased that we are seeing through the party politics and that you have met Joanne, because this is a ridiculous situation. You are describing four years of hurt, pain and fighting of the lioness that is Joanne Griffiths, and yet nothing has been done. It really upset me, and I am glad that the hon. Lady is on side. You—sorry; the hon. Lady is on the Government Benches, and this situation has to change.
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Antonia Louise Antoniazzi (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Lady says that it is complicated, which it is, but we are now in a ridiculous situation. There is something or someone in the system blocking medicinal cannabis getting to those children. Three prescriptions are already being supported, so why can the others not be supported too?
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Antonia Louise Antoniazzi (Labour, Centre-left): The problem is that we have been having this discussion for many years—ad infinitum. The hon. Lady is standing here today painting that picture. Ben has already had every single possible licensed or unlicensed medicine through the NHS. This is the only one that makes his life incredibly better. It is not a miracle cure, but it gives him a quality of life that he deserves. So do those other children. There is more than anecdotal evidence out there. I think she is insulting the families by making that case today.
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Antonia Louise Antoniazzi (Labour, Centre-left): I would not personally insult the hon. Lady because I do not think that this place is the place to do it. I will happily have a conversation with her afterwards. The issue we have here is that the word "anecdotal" has been thrown around. None of the experiences and none of the work that has been done by many of the people involved is anecdotal. this is not anecdotal. It is not about ethics. It is about getting medicine to the children who need it because the situation is now intolerable.
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Jeffrey Smith (Labour, Centre-left): The hon. Lady is making a thoughtful and important speech. May I go back to the mention of thalidomide, which I think is an unfair comparison? Thalidomide went through all the randomised controlled trials. People have used cannabis for thousands of years and nobody has ever found any evidence of any resulting foetal abnormalities, although there have not been randomised controlled trials The hon. Lady may wish to correct my impression, but she seems to be saying that randomised controlled trials are the only way to get evidence. I just think that we need to look beyond that. There is a whole wealth of evidence out there—a body of evidence. I am no scientific expert, but that is why I am proposing a commission of experts to look at the evidence and recommend a way forward. I just think that the comparison with thalidomide is not one that we should be making.
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Antonia Louise Antoniazzi (Labour, Centre-left): Absolutely. I really want to know what they are going to do. This has been collaborative, cross-party work, and I have had good conversations with the Secretary of State this week and with the Minister a week ago. The solution that has been put forward to me is quite interesting. They say, "Oh, well you could find one of these drug companies that you know and work with, and maybe they could put an observational trial together, and we could have the conversations with the necessary bodies, we could work on this and then it could move forward"—this is the point I was coming to—"in another two to three years." After four and a half years, we are already in a situation where some of these children are now adults, so we are going to be looking at another, completely different situation. This situation has to change My hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Withington has worked tirelessly on the Bill, giving the Government an option to move this issue forward, yet yesterday I was told, "Don’t worry, Tonia; talk for as long as you like, because they’re going to talk it out anyway." We have had debate upon debate upon debate. This is a private Member’s Bill. It would address the issues and move everything forward. That is the disappointment of this place. When the parents we work with know there is going to be a debate, they get all excited, and then nothing happens. Unfortunately, because of the way the parliamentary system works, that is how it is. That is why the Bill is so brilliant. It absolutely hits the nail on the head and I want it to pass—but we know that is unlikely We know there is a blockage in the system. I will not stand here and call out where I think that blockage is, but it is my personal view and my experience. It is what I have read and what I know. When somebody very high up in the system says, "We do not want this to happen," it usually does not happen. There is a blockage, and that blockage has to be broken down. I am not a GP or a medical expert, but it is wrong that this is not being looked into properly In the conversations that the right hon. Member for Hemel Hempstead and I had with the NHS we were promised an observational clinical trial, but that had changed to an RCT by the time of our next conversation with the same people. Why? We had the perfect situation. These children were already on the medicine and were already proving that it makes their lives better.
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Antonia Louise Antoniazzi (Labour, Centre-left): I understand what the hon. Member for Crewe and Nantwich (Dr Mullan) is saying, but he is not making a like-for-like comparison. Rachel Rankmore and her partner Craig have looked after Bailey through thick and thin, and she has just sent me this message: "We were told that Bailey may not wake up the Bailey you know because of brain damage from seizures and the very potent pharma drugs or not wake up at all the last time he was in hospital suffering 100s seizures before cannabis. He now lives an amazing quality of life out of hospital." She is furious about what has been said in the House today. The improvements they have seen in their child are being cast aside. Bailey would be dead if not for medicinal cannabis, and so would many others.
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Antonia Louise Antoniazzi (Labour, Centre-left): I will not give way because I need to make progress, and I said I would not take up too much time We got somewhere with the previous Minister, the hon. Member for Bury St Edmunds (Jo Churchill). She talked about the innovative medicines fund, and innovative medicine is exactly what this is. It has been around for a long time, and we do not have time to wait The Government need to set up a compassionate fund now, while the trials are happening, because these children will not go on to an RCT. They will not have the drugs flushed out of their system and take that risk, as happened to Bailey, who nearly died in a hospital bed. That is not going to happen, and we have to realise that this Bill and a compassionate fund for these children is the way forward, so that they do not have to lose their house and so they have the same access to medicines that others have We talk about intractable epilepsy, and they have tried everything else. From the risk-benefit analysis and the conversations I have had with clinicians, the benefits outweigh the risks in all these cases, which is why we are so strong and emotional about it. I do not want the Government to take us backwards but, in the recent conversations that I and my APPG co-chair have had with them, we have been told that we will have to wait another two to three years. That is unacceptable. We need to take the next step to move on. We are legislators, and the law has changed, but there have been only three NHS prescriptions—that must change I pay tribute once again to my hon. Friend the Member for Manchester, Withington for offering a sensible way forward. The children of the parents with whom we work deserve to live their best life. It is about time that the Government started to listen.
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Andrew Joseph McDonald (Labour, Centre-left): My hon. Friend is making a wonderful summary and presentation. Is she as frustrated as I am by some of the contributions that have been made today, which seem to suggest that we need to start again when having this debate? We have been through this process. The law has been changed to allow the prescription of these products, yet all we have are three. Is it not really frightening that we are now challenging the original decision to change the law? That is what has happened today.
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Rosena Chantelle Allin-Khan (Labour, Centre-left): In three years, we have had three prescriptions on the NHS. In three years, we have seen people in fear of not having roofs over their heads because they cannot afford to give life-changing medication to their children.
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Rosena Chantelle Allin-Khan (Labour, Centre-left): I will make a bit more progress and then I would be absolutely delighted to give way The situation that we face, whereby only three prescriptions in three years have been allowed, pushes more and more patients into the hands of private providers, who, as we have heard, are charging extortionate amounts of money each month for treatment. For the vast majority of people, that is simply out of reach Let me add something that I was not originally going to say: I, too, am a science geek. I have a biochemistry degree and I worked in medical research before even going to medical school. I understand the importance of robust, evidence-based medicine, but I can also tell hon. Members that people searching in a very desperate way for things that will improve the quality of their life, or even keep their children alive, might also go to places where absolutely no thought is given to the purity of a drug. They may seek alternatives that are increasingly more dangerous for their children. It is important to recognise that.
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Rosena Chantelle Allin-Khan (Labour, Centre-left): I do not need to tell the hon. Member, who has mentioned his CV—as many of us scientists have today—the cost of not investing in these young people. Think of every time a young person who would benefit from this drug goes into intensive care with seizures, every time they have alternative, expensive sedatives keeping them alive on a ventilator or the fact that they do not fulfil their potential, cannot go on and work and cannot give back to the economy. It is a false economy not to invest in this.
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Rosena Chantelle Allin-Khan (Labour, Centre-left): My understanding and my belief, unless someone has an alternative proposal, is that clinicians are often screaming from the rooftops in the knowledge that their patients need this medicine. We are where we are, however, with only three prescriptions having been granted in three years. This Bill seeks to improve that and move us forward. Families being forced to pay for treatment from private providers creates an unjust two-tier health system. A founding principle of our health service is that we do not believe that people’s access to treatment and services should be based on their ability to pay—it is as simple as that. The barriers in accessing medicinal cannabis are causing exactly that situation. We would not tolerate that for any other medication, so we should not tolerate it here. The Government must speed up and improve the availability of medical cannabis on the NHS and guarantee that patients across the country can access those products where appropriate We have all heard the testimonies of children who receive no respite from their seizures and of patients whose chronic pain has become a constant of their lives. Working in hospitals, I regularly meet those people and their families, who beg me and other doctors to help their loved ones. Witnessing their suffering never gets any less upsetting, especially when we know that there are options to alleviate it. Unrelenting pain can be so devastating for all involved. It is imperative that we listen to those who would benefit from access to cannabis-based products and allow them to guide our future thinking We have a voice in this place. I commend hon. Members from both sides of the House for using their voice today to speak up for those families who cannot be here to make the case themselves. Hon. Members have been begging, but we should not have to beg to do the right thing for the people who we serve.
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Antonia Louise Antoniazzi (Labour, Centre-left): Some of the voices that we have heard in the House today have talked about an unlicensed drug. The children who we have been talking about have been taking unlicensed drugs. I went to The Hague with two different families—two mothers—to pick up a prescription there before they could get it here. We walked into a pharmacy and picked it up, just as I would pick up my inhaler from Boots. There should be no fear. This is an over-the-counter drug in places such as the Netherlands, not an awful unlicensed drug that it is impossible to get. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to break down that barrier and move on?
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Rosena Chantelle Allin-Khan (Labour, Centre-left): As usual, I could not agree more with my hon. Friend, who makes a passionate and fair point The Bill serves as an opportunity to move forward in a way that even the sceptics could support. I say again that anyone who is planning to talk out the Bill should take a long hard look at themselves in the mirror and ask themselves what they are doing. They need to walk a mile in the shoes of the families who are worrying about whether their child will be alive the next day Last month, we had two debates on the issue in a matter of days. I would like to think that that demonstrates the collective will in the House to make progress, but that will and the warm words it brings are not enough for the thousands of people who should have benefited from those prescriptions in 2018 and since. We now need further action, and I wholeheartedly believe that the Bill would go some way towards achieving that. I trust that the Government believe that too.
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Jeffrey Smith (Labour, Centre-left): Immediately before the last few interventions, the hon. Lady said that we all know that people would try to use medical cannabis as recreational cannabis. I have to ask her where the evidence is for that. The fact is that these medicines are not the same as recreational cannabis. Look at Epidiolex or Bedrolite: people do not use them to get high. We are talking about completely different things. I really think that that is a red herring that the hon. Lady should not have thrown in.
Medical Cannabis (Access) Bill — House of Commons, 2021-12-10
Topic: Health
Barbara Mary Keeley (Labour, Centre-left): It is obvious to see what is going on here—Government Members are trying to talk out the Bill—but an argument was made in the previous intervention that we needed more evidence. This Bill would provide that, because it would bring forward a commission that would consolidate evidence and give a suitable framework for assessing cannabis products. That is what it is all about. Government Members worried about evidence should vote for the Bill.