Overview

This bill aims to protect medical practitioners from legal action when providing unlicensed medicines or non-standard treatments to terminally ill patients, provided certain conditions are met, including informed consent and a reasonable belief of benefit. It also facilitates the import, storage, and use of such medicines and equipment for terminally ill patients.

Description

The bill addresses two key areas:

Liability of Medical Practitioners

It shields doctors and their employers from civil and criminal liability when prescribing unlicensed medicines or carrying out non-standard treatments on terminally ill patients. This protection is conditional on the patient's informed consent, the doctor acting in good faith, and a reasonable belief that the treatment may benefit the patient. The definition of "terminally ill" is a person with a progressive disease whose death is reasonably expected within 12 months. The Secretary of State will define "unlicensed medicine," "non-standard treatment," and "informed consent" through regulations.

Import, Storage, and Use of Unlicensed Medicines and Equipment

The bill enables the Secretary of State to create regulations permitting and facilitating the import, storage, and use of unlicensed medicines and equipment for the treatment of terminally ill individuals. These regulations will specifically address the import and storage of both unlicensed medicines and equipment for this purpose.

The bill also allows for future regulations to amend or repeal existing legislation. All regulations will be subject to parliamentary approval.

Government Spending

The bill does not specify any direct government spending figures. However, implementing the regulations (e.g., defining terms, overseeing import processes) will likely incur costs for the government. The exact financial impact is not currently detailed.

Groups Affected

• Terminally ill patients: Potentially benefit from access to treatments not otherwise available.
• Medical practitioners: May be protected from legal action when providing experimental treatments.
• Employers of medical practitioners: Similarly protected from legal action.
• Regulatory bodies: Responsible for creating and enforcing the regulations outlined in the bill.
• Pharmaceutical companies and suppliers: May be affected by regulations governing the import and storage of unlicensed medicines.

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