Mind welcomes Parliamentary report calling for tighter regulation on prescription drugs

Posted Tuesday 5 April 2005

Health Select Committee report calls for tighter regulation of prescription drugs

Mental health charity Mind welcomes the publication of the Health Select Committee report calling for stricter regulation of the pharmaceutical industry. Mind has consistently campaigned for protection of consumers through more stringent and open regulation, and this is a key demand of Mind's Manifesto released last month. 

Last year Mind's Chief Executive, Richard Brook, resigned from the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority) expert group over concerns that its ability to safeguard patients' interests was being compromised by the influence of the large drugs companies.

Sophie Corlett, Director of Policy comments:

"Today's report upholds Mind's long campaign for a much more open and independent regulation of pharmaceutical medicine in the UK. Grave shortcomings of the system were exposed last year, with revelations over the safety of Seroxat and other psychiatric drugs, and the next Government must now put in place a drug regulation system that prioritises consumer safety."

<  Return to news