Medical Innovation Bill

The Academy submitted a response to the Department of Health’s consultation on the Medical Innovation Bill, commonly known as the Saatchi Bill, jointly with the Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. The Bill aimed to ensure that clinicians can use experimental treatments without fear of litigation, providing this is done 'responsibly' and with consent.

While the Academy and partner organisations are supportive of efforts to encourage innovation in healthcare, we raised concerned that the Bill may have implications for patients and research. For instance, we were concerned that the Bill may discourage patients from participating in clinical trials, thereby unintentionally allowing uncontrolled experimentation. We believe that medical innovation is best achieved through a robust research framework where the safety and efficacy of novel treatments can be thoroughly tested.

In our response, we highlighted that the Bill does not address the underlying issues of bureaucracy and funding of novel treatments, which are major barriers to medical innovation. We also raised concerns about the lack of provisions in the Bill for any form of follow-up or data collection to consider the effects of innovative treatments, which could lead to some patients continuing to receive untested, ineffective or potentially harmful treatments. 

The Bill failed to progress through the House of Commons after the Liberal Democrats declined to support it

The Academy has produced the following briefings with partner organisations:

• Briefing ahead of the House of Commons Second Reading - 6 March 2015
• Joint statement ahead of the House of Lords Third Reading - 23 January 2015
• Joint statement ahead of the House of Lords Report Stage – 12 December 2014
• Briefing ahead of the House of Lords Committee Stage - 24 October 2014
• Briefing ahead of the House of Lords Second Reading - 27 June 2014