NR ARXL
AU Wickham,E.A.
TI Creutzfeldt-Jakob-disease and bovine spongiform encephalopathy - advisory committees conclusion was based on absence of any credible alternative
QU British Medical Journal 1996; 312(7037): 1038
PT Letter
VT
EDITOR - On 20 March the Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee in Britain issued a statement regarding 10 cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease that showed a previously unrecognised and consistent pattern of disease.[i] The committee concluded: "in the absence of any credible alternative the most likely explanation at present is that these cases are linked to exposure to BSE (Bovine spongiform encephalopathy) before the introduction of the SBO [specified bovine offal) ban in 1989." How can a committee of scientists come to a conclusion on the basis of no credible alternative? Why exposure to bovine spongiform encephalopathy and not to microwave ovens, high voltage power lines, or organophosphorus sheep dips?
These few words have caused an epidemic of hysteria across Europe and paralysed the British beef industry at home and abroad. Pharmaceutical companies are being besieged by patients concerned about the possible risks of medicines of bovine origin. For example, diabetic patients are asking whether they should continue to take beef insulin (in the case of the pharmaceutical company to which I am a medical adviser the insulins are made from pancreases from cattle outside the British Isles).
Another concern is that the suicide rate in British farmer - which is currently among the highest by occupation in Britain - will increase and that the increase will exceed the number of deaths from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease over the coming months. All this when, in the committee's own words, "there is no direct evidence of a link."
References
i. Brown P. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. BMJ 1996 312,790-1 (30 March.)
ZR 1 Zitat
AD
Anne Wickham, Consultant pharmaceutical physician, PO Box 246 Canterbury CT4 5YY
SP englisch
OR Prion-Krankheiten 8