Written question asked by Bob Russell (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 15 February 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 28 February 2001. It was answered by Yvette Cooper (Labour) on Wednesday, 28 February 2001 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if the Medical Research Council funded trial to compare sub-thalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease with best medical practice will treat all patients that have an unmet need for deep brain stimulation (a) as part of the trial and (b) outside the trial; and if he will make a statement. - Including ref to a correction to 2 February 2001, 362 c641.

Answer: Mr. Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if the Medical Research Council funded trial to compare sub-thalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease with best medical practice will treat all patients that have an unmet need for deep brain stimulation (a) as part of the trial and (b) outside the trial; and if he will make a statement. [151454] Yvette Cooper: A proposal for a large randomised long-term assessment of the relative effectiveness of surgery for Parkinson's disease patients is being considered by the Medical Research Council (MRC). The funding decision on this trial is due to be made by the MRC in March, following which the council would be happy to provide further details. I regret that in an Adjournment debate on Parkinson's disease on 2 February 2001, Official Report, column 641, funding of £940,000 for a study into the effectiveness of new and old drugs for Parkinson's disease was incorrectly attributed to the MRC. This specific project is in fact funded by the National Health Service Technology Assessment Programme.

Secondary information