Saatchi bill passes in Lords but faces opposition and time pressure in Commons

A private member’s bill to give extra legal protection to doctors in England and Wales who try experimental treatments has been passed by the House of Lords.

The Medical Innovation Bill has been sent to the House of Commons where, despite government support for its principles, there are serious doubts that it will have time to complete all its stages and become law before parliament rises at the end of March for the general election.

The bill, sponsored by the Conservative peer Maurice Saatchi, whose wife died from ovarian cancer, has been criticised by medical …