Medical Innovation Bill [HL]

Lord Newby Excerpts

Friday 12th December 2014 Lords Chamber

[Lord Newby (LD)]

My Lords, I remind noble Lords that this is Report and that, under the rules of the House, noble Lords are normally supposed to speak only once.

[Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood (CB)]

My Lords, as I am speaking just the once, perhaps I may draw attention to Clause 2(2)(b), which contemplates innovation in the sense of,

“a departure from the existing range of accepted medical treatments for a condition”,

not—I repeat, not—within the scope of the Bill. Surely that innovation, too, should be included within the register, because it is important that its effects should be recorded. It should not be confined only to those who seek to invoke the provisions of this Bill.

[Lord Newby]

My Lords, I also remind noble Lords that, under the rules of the House, it is not permitted for noble Lords to speak after the Minister.

[Baroness Butler-Sloss (CB)]

But it is permitted for noble Lords to ask the Minister a question before she technically sits down. I should just like to reiterate what has already been said: it seems to me that making the register compulsory ought to be on the face of the Bill.