The Safety of Medicines Bill

The Safety of Medicines Bill 2010 was launched by a cross-party group of MPs to tackle the escalating problem of adverse drug reactions by requiring an unprecedented scientific comparison of testing methods. Senior Conservative MP David Amess presented the Bill on 20th July with a ten minute speech to the House of Commons, which can be viewed here (fast forward 1 hour and 42 minutes) and read here.  See some of the press coverage in Southend Standard and on ePolitix.com.

Bob Russell MP (Liberal Democrat), David Amess MP (Conservative), Dr Caroline Lucas MP (Green), Paul Flynn MP (Labour), Mike Hancock CBE MP (Liberal Democrat) and Dr Julian Huppert MP (Liberal Democrat) also tabled Early Day Motion 475 in support of the Bill.

Dr Julian Huppert MP (Liberal Democrat), Peter Bottomley MP (Conservative), Mike Hancock MP (Liberal Democrat), Paul Flynn MP (Labour), Kelvin Hopkins MP (Labour) and Mark Durkan MP (Social Democratic and Labour Party) have tabled the closely related EDM 380: Availability of human tissue for medical research, calling on the Government to increase the accessibility of surplus human tissue samples for medical research.

You can help

Please send our postcard to your own MP to ask them to sign EDM 475: Safety of Medicines and EDM 380: Availability of human tissue for medical research – or please thank them if they already have. We would be grateful to see any replies. If your MP has questions or concerns, please contact us for an information sheet to send to them.

The time to evaluate animal tests has surely come. With adverse drug reactions increasing and the output of new medicines decreasing, while their costs spiral ever upwards, it has never been more important to assess the methods used to test drug safety.

	"If replacing animal tests could benefit drug safety, who could fail to be happy?" Co-sponsor David Amess MP (Conservative)		“We must move safety testing into the 21st century for all our sakes.” Co-sponsor Bob Russell MP (Liberal Democrat)
	“These impressive technologies deserve a fair trial, to see if they could do a better job of protecting patients.” Co-sponsor Paul Flynn MP (Labour)		“More reliable methods will benefit everyone. A national strategy to replace outdated animal tests is urgently needed to improve the safety of medicines.” Co-sponsor Dr Caroline Lucas MP (Green)
	“It is astonishing that animal testing has never been scientifically evaluated. This process is long overdue.” Co-sponsor Mike Hancock CBE MP (Liberal Democrat)		"Human tissue is vital to the development of safe and effective medicines. Its availability must be improved" Dr Julian Huppert MP (Liberal Democrat)