This page details all of the evidence received to date for our workstream on ‘Enhancing the use of scientific evidence to judge the potential benefits and harms of medicines’. This evidence has informed all of the workstream’s sub-projects, including the ‘Sources of evidence for assessing the safety, efficacy and effectiveness of medicines’ Working Group project, the ‘Conflicts of interest’ workshop, the two ‘Communicating evidence about medicines’ workshops, and the public dialogue activities.
The evidence gathered consists of:
- Written responses to the Academy’s call for evidence.
- Oral evidence sessions.
- A literature review on ‘How evidence is used by the public to judge risks and benefits of medicines’.
- A report of a joint workshop with the Wellcome Trust on ‘Evaluating evidence in health’, held in October 2015.
- A report of a workshop on ‘Conflicts of interest’, held in November 2015.
- A report of a roundatable on ‘Communicating evidence in the media’, held in April 2016.
- A report of a workshop on ‘Communicating evidence about medicines’, held in June 2016.
- A survey of the general public and GPs in the UK to evaluate perspectives on: trust in evidence about medicines; trust in doctors and clinical scientists to produce and use scientific evidence effectively; drivers and barriers to trust in evidence; and over- and under-medication.
- A report of deliberative public dialogue summarising discussions with the public and healthcare professionals in Glasgow, London and Leeds.
The views expressed in the following documents are those of the respective contributors, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Academy of Medical Sciences, its Fellows, its partner organisations, nor of all the meeting participants.
In July 2015, the Academy issued a call for written evidence asking for input into all elements of the workstream. The list below includes all the responses received for which we secured permission to publish. The full list of contributors will be acknowledged in the final report.
Individual responses
Professor Sheila M. Bird OBE FRSE
Professor Dame Nicky Cullum DBE FMedsci
Professor Sir John Grimley Evans FMedSci
Organisational responses
Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry
British Pharmacological Society
Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine
Health Technology Assessment international
Healthcare Improvement Scotland - Evidence Directorate
Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
MRC & NI Network of Hubs for Trials Methodology Research
Nuffield Department of Population Health
Royal College of Physicians of London
University College London - Evaluating Evidence in Medicine project team