Drug Companies: Medical Trials

Lord Mawhinney Excerpts

Monday 24th February 2014 Lords Chamber

[Earl Howe]

Certainly, my Lords, any advice that comes from NICE on the clinical effectiveness of a drug should be adhered to by commissioners. It is not, however, mandatory that that happens. Commissioners have discretion in that area.

[Lord Mawhinney (Con)]

I compliment my noble friend on the full and comprehensive Answer that he gave to the Question, and on the reassurance that it contained. Do he and his colleagues think that perhaps the issue here is not the legal framework but the issue of transparency and ease of access to information? If they think that that has some merit, would they be willing to consider having a simplified summary of the legal position on the department’s website for easy access for those who are interested?

[Earl Howe]

I absolutely agree with my noble friend. The Government are committed to transparency in the area of clinical trials. Transparency is important for patients, the public, researchers and the NHS, and it can be achieved through ensuring trial registration and outcome publication, as well as making data available through the appropriate channels. I think that the new EU regulation will be extremely helpful in promoting transparency, and the availability of summaries of all trials and clinical study reports will be a part of that regulation. However, I take my noble friend’s point about a simple guide for the public and I will gladly consider it.