Medical innovation will continue without legislation - says MDU
Reacting to news that the Medical Innovation Bill will not progress further in this parliament, Dr Michael Devlin, head of professional standards and liaison at the Medical Defence Union (MDU) said:
"Medical innovation is fundamental if medicine is to progress. If the law was any bar to innovation, the MDU would have been calling for reform years ago. There was never any need for new legislation in this area and many doctors will breathe a sigh of relief that there will be no new legislation to bring confusion to what is currently a straightforward matter.
"We know doctors innovate all the time as we regularly advise MDU members about the medico-legal implications of using an innovative treatment or experimental drug regime. We have never known of a doctor being sued just for innovating.
"The Bill served a useful purpose as it provided an opportunity for the MDU to make it clear to any members who were uncertain that litigation is not and should not be a bar to innovation. The law is already very clear and any new law would only have created delay and confusion. That would not have benefited patients or doctors and it is reassuring to see that parliament has understood this."
