Another threat to research in the United Kingdom

doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7450.1212

BMJ 2004;328:1212-1213 (22 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7450.1212

Editorial

Another threat to research in the United Kingdom

Research ethics committees may be unable to function becauseof political control

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

Medical research in the United Kingdom is under a substantialand immediate threat that was mentioned neither in the editorialon the European Union clinical trials directive nor in Moulton'sletter in the same issue.^1
2 Many research ethics committeesmay be unable to function fully after 1 May 2004 and may notcomply with international regulations. This will be the resultboth of regulations drafted by the Medicines and Healthcareproducts Regulatory Agency and of arbitrary decisions takenby the Central Office for Research Ethics Committees.

Research ethics committees are not in general worried aboutthe requirements of the European Union directive itself. However,the regulations to implement the directive in the United Kingdom,recently laid before parliament, include several elements ofgreat concern to research ethics committees.³ Although theseconcerns were drawn to the attention of the Medicines and Healthcareproducts Regulatory Agency last year, only one has been . . . [Full text of this article]

Richard Nicholson, editor

Bulletin of Medical Ethics, London N5 2EA (mail@bullmedeth.info)

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