Experimental drug Bill gets government backing
20 Oct 2014
A new law which would give dying patients access to untested medicines has received backing from the government.
The Medical Innovation Bill, proposed by Conservative peer Lord Saatchi, is designed to help doctors in England and Wales administer novel treatments for diseases such as cancer.
The Bill has been amended so that medical professionals now have to seek the agreement of at least one other doctor before experimental drugs can be legally administered.
The amendment has led the Department of Health to lend its support to the Bill.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Saatchi pointed to the current West Africa Ebola epidemic in which the “principle of allowing new drugs to be tested on desperately ill people was already being applied”.
“In dealing with the deadly Ebola outbreak, the World Health Organisation has decided that departure from standard evidence-based treatment is fully justified and essential,” Saatchi said.
“It has set ethical guidelines for the use of new therapies and interventions - they are identical to the provisions of the Medical Innovation Bill.”
The Bill, which could be made law by March 2015 if MPs vote in its favour in December, would effectively reduce the need for years of clinical trials, cutting the costs of medicines and freeing up funds to develop experimental drugs for rare diseases.
Concerns
Although the amended Bill has gained a greater amount of support from both the government and the medical sector, some experts remain concerned.
Speaking in The Telegraph yesterday, Michael Baum, professor emeritus of surgery at University College London, said: “Never once have we encountered interference or obstruction due to fear of litigation.
“There are of course many other obstacles to progress but changing the law with this bill is not going to accelerate innovation in cancer therapy, but might, as a result of unintended consequences, endanger our patients by uncontrolled experimentation.”
