The Medical Innovation Bill, which I have been working on in Parliament with Lord Maurice Saatchi for more than a year, and which seeks to make it easier for doctors to innovate in the treatment of cancer and other conditions, unanimously passed its Second Reading in the House of Lords last Friday. This means the Bill has passed a significant hurdle in the effort to become legislation, although there is plenty of work still to do.
Some of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of the past decades have been made when doctors have innovated. Currently, doctors have to follow a well-established protocol in cancer treatment even when they may think another approach could work, partly because of a fear that they, and the NHS, might be sued if a slight deviation from the well-worn path doesn’t work.
As a result of this progress in the House of Lords it now seems increasingly likely that the Bill will be sent to the House of Commons in due course, and on to the next stage.
There are still many Parliamentary hurdles which can arise; however the fact that both the Government and Opposition front benches indicated support for this Bill in the House of Lords is a big milestone.