7 June 2022: Rawlins - C

Counsel led the witness through documents he had written or were written to cover what Sir Michael was saying. These related to his concerns about the lack of transparency in relations between doctors and pharmaceutical companies, including paid-for overseas trips. The name of Dr Peter Jones from Newcastle was mentioned in this context, but the witness did not remember any specific reference to Dr Jones. In his more general opinion, this was a problem and could lead to compromised decision-making by doctors. The witness felt there was a need to have greater control over these relations. It was also mentioned that the witness was once asked to draft a Dear Dr letter to endorse the safety of a particular drug. He refused to do so.

The witness was asked if the conditions which could be imposed on a licence applicant by the licencing authority were wide. He agreed they were. From his witness statement, it was clear that there was an awareness of the issues for blood product treatment related to both sourcing and pool sizes. It was confirmed that the licencing authority could have imposed conditions on these matters. Sir Michael interjected with a comment that he had been reading from a statement by David Owen on his desire as a Health Minster to achieve UK self-sufficiency for blood, noting that it was as early as the 1970s. He said he had never known this before. Incidentally, they knew each other since they had both been at St Thomas’ Hospital at the same time.

Again, Dr Peter Jones name was mentioned. He had accompanied a pharmaceutical company as they were seeking to obtain a licence for their product. Dr Jones made it clear he was not paid to be there. The witness was asked about the appropriateness of a practicing clinician advocating for a pharmaceutical company to the licencing authority. Sir Michael responded that it was not automatically a bad thing since it might be seen to demonstrate the clinician point of view on the efficacy of a treatment seeking a licence.

(Due to the additional short morning break, a slightly shorter lunch break was announced.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

26 July 2023: Sunak - A

And in walked the Prime Minister (PM), at exactly 2pm. One minute later the Chair enters. Sir Brian said a few words of thanks for the special circumstances related to access people had to endure due to the additional security arrangements. The PM gave the oath following his own religious affiliation. Counsel contextually reviewed how the witness had stated that his knowledge and involvement relied on other Ministers, however he had received more recent briefings in preparation for the appearance today. The first questions went straight to the communications from Penny Mordaunt when she was Paymaster General (PG). These highlighted in strong terms the need for action at the time and not to delay. Before answering, the witness wanted to say how he recognised this was, “An appalling scandal … people have suffered for decades” (and other fine words not backed up with action). In relation to the letters from the PG, he did not see them under the normal situation of a triage to filter the c...
Read more

25 July 2023: Dunn - B

Questions from core participants: Was there an investigation into the newspaper leaks? She was not aware of one, but that would have been taken forward by the Cabinet Office. (Fox and chicken coop comes to mind.) What are the main elements being used to come up with the leaked figures? She was not able to say but would get back to the Inquiry with that information. On psychological support, will the research be made publicly available, and when? She expected it would be and was expected in August. The research was understood to have been commissioned in 2022, but the need was highlighted in 2020. Why did it take so long to get to the point of commissioning the work? She said there was a process of “ongoing dialogue” after which it was decided that what was required was more ongoing dialogue. (That’s not exactly how it was phrased.) The Chair referenced himself as having, on several occasions, expressed the hope that he can recognise how everyone in the UK, including England, was benefi...
Read more

17 November 2022: Panel on finding the undiagnosed - A

Another panel of leading medics were assembled to address the issue of how to find people who are still undiagnosed. There was one from each of the four nations: Professor Graham Foster (England); Professor John Dillon (Scotland); Doctor Brendan Healey (Wales); and Dr Joanne McLean (Northern Ireland). As usual, for each witness there was a brief review of their respective roles and responsibilities. The situation in England started with a description of the HCV elimination initiative and its arrangement involving the pharmaceutical companies which was lauded by the English witness but seemed curious. For their cooperation, the pharma companies get anonymous, headline data on patients. There is a three phase elimination programme in England. Phase 1 is about oral therapies. Phase 2 is about risk groups. It involves an incentivised process to encourage the identification by re-engagement with patients who had had a positive test but had not been treated. It involved about 50,000 people. ...
Read more