But crucially it will drop any attempt to allow doctors to experiment on patients without fear of being sued – a measure in the Saatchi Bill which led to it being branded a “Quack’s charter”.
The Bill has been brought forward by Conservative MP Chris Heaton-Harris and Life Sciences minister George Freeman.
The Government’s decision to give the legislation the support of civil servants and Parliamentary time means that it is likely to be law by the summer.
Mr Freeman told The Daily Telegraph that the changes could help to cut the length of time it takes to bring a new drug to market by a third, from 15 years to 10 years.
He said: “With so many new treatments being developed patients increasingly want to know how they can access these innovative drugs.
“This Bill will mean that every doctor – not just those in specialist research hospitals – will have access to that information.
“This supports the Government’s broader reforms dramatically to reduce the time, cost and risk of traditional drug discovery.”
Mr Heaton-Harris added: “The passing of this Bill will send an unambiguous political signal to government that it should get on with the job of setting up a database of innovation in our NHS.”
He said his Bill will “register innovation, including the use of off patent drugs and spread the knowledge of its successes and failures quickly and efficently”.
Lord Saatchi campaigned on the issue after his wife Josephine Hart died from ovarian cancer and was unable to volunteer to be treated with untested medicines and drugs.
But his Bill was vetoed by the Liberal Democrats in the dying days of the Coalition over concerns that it would allow doctors to experiment on patients with untested medicines.
The dropping of a legal disclaimer to stop doctors being sued if the treatments go wrong - the most controversial element of the Saatchi Bill –gives it a good chance of being backed by MPs and peers on its progress through Parliament.
Lord Saatchi told The Telegraph he is delighted that the new watered down version of his original legislation.
He said: “The passage of the Bill through the Commons will be an important milestone in medical innovation.
“It has been a long journey, and I am greatly indebted to the Government for its support throughout.”
Source: http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/579309/s/4d104258/sc/28/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cnews0Chealth0Csaatchi0Ebill0C121125770CNew0Eson0Eof0ESaatchi0EBill0Ewill0Elet0Eseriously0Eill0Epatients0Evolunteer0Efor0Euntested0Elife0Esaving0Edrugs0Bhtml/story01.htm
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