FOI release

FOI2022/00373: Nuclear test veterans - Letter

This request was refused in full, so we didn't provide the information the requester asked for. This may include information where we can neither confirm nor deny that we hold it.

Case reference FOI2022/00373

Published 1 March 2023

Request

Request Received: 16 November 2022

Hello, I'd like to make a Freedom of Information request about information which is reference in the below screenshot. This comes from a document used in a High Court case in 2009 when 1,011 nuclear test veterans attempted to sue the Ministry of Defence for criminal negligence. As you will see from para 411, it states that Prof H John Evans a former director of the Medical Research Council, wrote a letter to Dr David James also of the MRC on January 24, 1984. He refers to having blood samples sent to MRC for analysis, the analysis was delayed, and then later carried out showing chromosomal abnormalities in some of the subjects.

My request is for:

1. A copy of this letter, in its entirety

2. Details of how many blood samples were received by Prof Evans at MRC about a year before this letter was written, in what format they were held (specimen tubes, on ice, on slides), and what subsequently happened to them, ie are they retained or destroyed, and if so, when, where and on whose instructions.

3. Any documents the MRC holds about the results of the chromosomal analysis that was undertaken, and to whom copies may have been provided.

4. If possible, and within the cost limits, an indication of whether the subjects of these tests were informed of the results.

Response

Response Sent: 9 December 2022

Full details of this response are provided in the attached document.

Documents

This is UK Research and Innovation's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.

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