Although the Medicines and Medical Devices Bill received its first reading in the House of Commons on the 13th of February, progress on the Bill was interrupted by the Covid-19 crisis in March 2020. The Bill has since been re-introduced, passing quickly through the House of Commons. Professor Muireann Quigley, Professor Jean McHale, Dr Rachael Dickson and Dr Laura Downey submitted written evidence to the Commons Public Bill Committee which sat 8th-10th June. In this they made four key points:
- The rapid re-introduction of the MMDB risks inadequate scrutiny of a Bill which proposes broad changes to the law;
- In order to safeguard patient safety, clauses aimed at making the UK an ‘attractive’ jurisdiction for clinical trials and the manufacturing of medicines and medical devices should be removed;
- The Bill should be amended to reduce the risk of potential regulatory divergence between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK in the future; and
- The powers delegated to the Secretary of State should be time-limited to ensure accountability.
Want to know more?
Read the written evidence submitted to the Public Bill Committee here or by clicking the image (left).