Myelography And Arachnoiditis

EDM number 1490 in 1992-93, proposed by Ian McCartney on 01/03/1993.

That this House draws to the attention of the Secretary of State for Health the permanent suffering and disabled lives of NHS patients whose spinal investigations were carried out through myelography, a technique by which a chemical dye is injected into the spine as a contrast medium for X-rays; notes that many of these patients subsequently developed arachnoiditis, a degenerative and progressive disorder involving scarring and inflammation within the spine; expresses the gravest concern that myelography is still widely used within the NHS for spinal examinations and that patients are not given adequate warnings about dangers of post-myelography arachnoiditis; notes that Glaxo, manufacturers of Myodil, an oil-based dye formerly used in myelography, are now the subject of one of the largest litigations for personal injury in medico-legal history; further notes with increasing concern the growing body of medical evidence that suggests that safer water-based dyes currently in widespread use present similar dangers; requests the Secretary of State for Health to undertake as a matter of urgency a complete review of all invasive spinal procedures, particularly myelography, to take all steps necessary to ensure that sufficient funding is made available so as to ensure that modern, non-invasive techniques of magnetic resonance imaging - the MRI scan - are available to all; and believes that the work of chronic pain management programmes such as that at St. Thomas' Hospital in London should be expanded to help all sufferers come to terms with the consequences of unrelenting pain.

This motion has been signed by a total of 125 MPs.