The former Medicines Control Agency has received a damning blow from the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts.

The committee's report, Safety, Quality, Efficacy: Regulating Medicines in the UK, criticises the agency for its “lack of dynamism” in improving public health and for its “non-existent” public profile, which made it difficult for it to function as a provider of safety information.

The agency was, until earlier this year, responsible for protecting public health by ensuring the safety, quality, and efficacy of the one billion medicines that are prescribed …