I had an interesting email the other day inviting me to attend an event at the Houses of Parliament to find out more about Lord Saatchi’s Medical Innovation Bill.
The event is aimed at ‘leading bloggers and You Tubers’ (their words, not mine, and I now have a very big head), and will explain how social media can be used to put the power of the Bill into the hands of patients.
The Medical Innovation Bill is intriguing, originating from Lord Saatchi’s devastation after his wife, the novelist Josephine Hart, died of ovarian cancer in 2011. The Bill is designed to help doctors innovate and find new ways of treating disease, specifically cancer. Currently, the fear of litigation is holding these doctors back, forcing them to follow well-trodden paths of standard procedure.
The Bill has support from many leading doctors and scientists across the country. It has also been tested on some of the UK’s most senior legal experts, and they have stated that they understand the need for legal clarity in cases where doctors seek to innovate – and that this Bill provides that clarity. This Bill will therefore support sensible innovation, while protecting patients.
Although aimed primarily at people with cancer and the doctors who treat them, could this Bill potentially mean anything for people with MS and their treatment? Although we are not suffering from a life-threatening disease as such, we’ll still be living with it our entire lives. Is there room for innovation in the treatment of MS?
Before the event this Monday, I would really like to find out what you think. How can we open this debate up to include MS? Do you think this Bill will make any difference if it is passed? Hopefully I will have a chance to ask Lord Saatchi a question or two – if you have any ideas please let me know.
For more information, check out these two articles below: