126
DIEU
ET MON
DROIT
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL SECURITY
Alexander Fleming House, Elephant & Castle, London SEI 6BY
PO(S of S)2710/3
Telephone 01-407 5522
From the Secretary of State for Social Services
Senator Claude Pepper
Chairman
US House of Representatives
Select Committee on Aging
Washington DC 20515
4 June 1980
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Senator,
Thank you for your letter of 3 March about the use of dimethly sulphoxide
(DMSO) in the United Kingdom particularly for the treatment of arthritis.
I am sorry that my reply has been so long delayed but I have had to make
some enquiries.
DMSO is not licensed in the UK for the treatment of arthritis, and indeed
the only licenced use of DMSO in this country is as an excipient in the
product called Herpid Solution for the treatment of herpes zoster.
However, under Section 13(1) of the Medicines Act, 1968 it is possible
for DMSO (or any medicinal product) to be specifically imported on the
order of a doctor for administration to an individually named patient.
Though my Department is naturally anxious to improve treatment facilities
available for patients suffering from arthritis, it is not directly responsi-
ble for assessing the merits of different forms of treatment. This is the
responsibility of the medical profession who have to be satisfied that a
treatment had been clinically proved before using it.
My Department is of course very conscious of the amount of suffering caused
to so many people in this country because of rheumatic and arthritic con-
ditions and it may be helpful if I let you know generally what we are doing
in this field.
We consider that research into causation and aspects of treatment for
arthritis and rheumatism most important. Most government funded research in
this field is biomedical and, under arrangements between this Department and
the Medical Research Council, is financed by the MRC, who are kept regularly
informed of the Department's interests and priorities. Some of the main
areas of interest at present are: the causes of arthritis; evaluation of
methods of assessment and alternative physical methods of treatment of
arthritic and rheumatic conditions; and studies of the balance of care and
