Dorrell defends action against CJD the worst form of death
30 November 1998
Dorrell defends action against CJD — ‘the worst form of death’
By FWi staff
VICTIMS of the human form of mad cow disease suffer the worst form of death, former Government minister Stephen Dorrell told the BSE Inquiry today (Monday).
Mr Dorrell was health secretary from 1995-1997 at the height of the BSE.
“What we are talking about is a terrible disease, an untreatable disease,” he told the inquiry.
“It is very hard to imagine a worse form of death than CJD.”
In March 1996, Mr Dorrell became the first minister to admit a possible risk that humans could catch Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease by eating BSE-infected beef.
The statement rocked the beef industry and within hours beef exports from Britain were banned.
Mr Dorrell said today his statement was justified.
“It is a very unpleasant risk we are guarding against,” he said.
Mr Dorrell also said that he should have been clearer before his announcement, when he maintained that beef was safe to eat.
Saying beef was safe did not mean there was zero risk, although the statement remained technically correct, he said.