A group of lawmakers from across party lines has penned a letter to the health and social care committee, expressing serious concerns about the Medicines and Health Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and its impact on patient safety. They accuse the agency of contributing to “unnecessary deaths” and highlight its conflicts of interest with the pharmaceutical industry.
The strongly-worded letter, endorsed by MPs and peers, including Oxford Professor of Evidence-Based Medicine, Carl Heneghan, and Kath Sansom, founder of the Sling the Mesh campaign, criticizes the MHRA for operating a safety system that they argue fails to adequately protect patients, exposing them to significant risks.
Specifically, they call out Dame June Raine, the chief executive of the MHRA, for her comments regarding the agency’s shift from being a “watchdog to an enabler,” raising concerns about conflicts of interest and its impact on patient safety.
While the letter is dated October 2023, it was recently published on the website of the all-party parliamentary group for pandemic response. It draws parallels between past failings of the MHRA and current issues, particularly regarding vaccine damage reporting, highlighting instances where patient safeguarding measures were deemed inadequate, resulting in avoidable harm.
The letter also addresses concerns about the Yellow Card scheme, the MHRA’s system for reporting adverse drug reactions, emphasizing issues of under-reporting and complexity in the complaints system. The group calls for mandatory reporting of complications by doctors and criticizes the MHRA’s lack of transparency in responding to Freedom of Information requests.
Furthermore, the lawmakers advocate for a dedicated register for conflicts of interest within the healthcare sector, aiming to enhance transparency and accountability. The letter concludes by condemning the MHRA’s failure to implement meaningful reforms following previous reviews and calls attention to specific instances, such as the handling of adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines.
The letter’s release coincided with a viral clip from GB News, where a vaccine-injured individual confronted Prime Minister Rishi Sunak about the lack of support for those harmed by COVID-19 vaccines, further highlighting concerns raised in the letter regarding the MHRA’s response to adverse events associated with vaccinations.
