Flickr/seanmichaelragan. Some rights reserved.
On 18th June 2015, an extraordinary letter was published in the Independent, opposing Lord Saatchi’s Medical Innovation Bill, which has been resurrected and returned to the House of Lords after being halted in the last Parliament. Written by the various Presidents or Chairs of the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Surgeons, the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, the Royal College of Anaesthetists, the Royal College of Pathologists and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, this letter effectively represents the UK’s medical profession, and they were united in their opposition to a bill they described as “unnecessary at best and potentially harmful to patient care at worst.” In opposing this bill, they join the GMC and the vast weight of legal, medical and patient protection organisations, who all understand that, far from helping find new treatments and protecting patients, it would harm research and patients alike. Saatchi claims that all honest opposition to his bill has been met. The Royal Colleges, then, are presumably dishonest opponents, in his opinion.
How will Lord Saatchi respond to this latest demonstration of the opposition to his bill?
