BMJ  2004;328:1029-1030 (1 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7447.1029

Editorial

Data protection, informed consent, and research

Medical research suffers because of pointless obstacles

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Cancer Research UK and other medical research charities have warned the government that the human tissue bill will cause damaging confusion among doctors and hamper medical research unless crucial sections are clarified.¹ The Data Protection Act, another well intentioned but loosely drafted law, has also been in the news. The Bichard inquiry has been investigating the decision by Humber-side police to erase the records of Ian Huntley's sexual offences involving children because he had not been convicted, and Richard Thomas, who as information commissioner is responsible for interpreting the Data Protection Act, has announced a public information campaign to prevent such embarrassing "misinterpretations" of the act.² He says that "data protection principles are largely a matter of common sense," and told the Bichard inquiry that the decision to erase Huntley's records was "astonishing." This decision, like the General Medical Council's instruction to doctors that they might face litigation under the . . . [Full text of this article]

(julian.peto@lshtm.ac.uk)

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT

Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5NG

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