Nick Clegg accused of handing 'death sentence' to cancer patients after health bill veto

NICK Clegg has been accused of "handing down a death sentence" to thousands of cancer patients after his party vetoed a law which would have freed up doctors to prescribe innovative new treatments.

GETTY

Lord Saatchi said Nick Clegg had handed down a 'death sentence' to cancer patients

Conservative peer Lord Saatchi said he was "in a state of shock" after his coalition partners in the House of Lords blocked the bill from reaching the Commons. 

The Tory grandee - whose brother Charles was married to celebrity chef Nigella Lawson - has been campaigning for a change in the law since his wife, novelist Josephine Hart, died from a form of ovarian cancer in 2011.

The proposed law would have given doctors legal protection to try out experimental drugs on patients with terminal diseases when all other conventional medicines had been exhausted.

Any doctors doing so would have had to consult with at least one other specialist medic before going ahead with the treatment.    

After the bill was blocked by the Lib Dems, Lord Saatchi told the Sunday Telegraph: "By killing the Bill they have killed the hopes of thousands of cancer patients. It is as simple as that. 

"Nick Clegg has handed down a death sentence to cancer patients. It is an extraordinary turn of events.

He added: "This is a grotesque insult to the House of Lords. The Liberal Democrats are saying that the House of Commons will never debate this Bill which has been sent to it and passed by the House of Lords."

GETTY

The Lib Dems vetoed the bill over concerns of 'unintended consequences' on patient safety

GETTY

Lib Dem health minister Normal Lamb blocked the law from coming before parliament

The Medical Innovation Bill had passed unopposed through thee readings in the House of Lords and was set to go before MPs in the Commons before Lib Dem health minister Norman Lamb intervened to kill it off. 

Justifying his actions today, the minister said he had vetoed the proposed legislation after health groups raised worries about "unintended consequences" on patient safety. 

"I have enormous sympathy for all those who have been through the awful experience of not being offered treatment which they believe might offer a chance of survival or of improving their condition," he said.

"But getting the law right in this area is incredibly important. We have to avoid the risk of unintended consequences.

"I am not interested in pushing this into the long grass. It should be given priority, but we must get it right."

Mr Lamb said that his party had consulted patient organisations, research charities, legal bodies, royal colleges and medical unions before coming to the decision. 

He added the proposal should be reviewed by an "eminent person" before potential draft legislation could go through Parliament later this year.

GETTY

The bill had passed three readings in the House of Lords before being quashed
Would you like to receive news notifications from Daily Express?