UK launch of The Institute of Medical Law

Jun 29 2004

The University of Birmingham is continuing to lead the way in international research into medical-legal issues such as MMR, euthanasia and drug regulation with the launch of The Institute of Medical Law.

The Institute, which will be officially launched at 12.30 pm on the 29 June at the School of Law is a joint collaboration between the University's Schools of Medicine and Law. Staff from both schools will use their expertise to research a range of important medical-legal issues, focusing initially on the UK and Europe.

Although ready to provide assistance to governmental bodies involved in aspects of medical law as well as to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, the Institute is an independent body which will look at a range of topics from existing research into medical causation, product liability and abortion laws to new areas such as end-of-life issues, including euthanasia.

An important area of research developed by the Institute is on the problems of establishing causation between medicinal products and adverse effects, as exemplified in the MMR litigation, which failed to establish a causal link between the MMR vaccine and autism. The Institute will also be focusing on the development of a distinct research discipline in the field of pharmaceutical law, including issues of product liability, drug regulation and pharmaceutical intellectual property.

Institute Director, Dr Richard Goldberg, of the University's School of Law, said: "The University has established a level of research excellence in certain fields of medical law and the Institute will enable us to build on this work.

"The Institute will encourage collaborative and interdisciplinary research of international standing into the most important medical-legal issues of the day and will strengthening the university's position as a global centre of excellence in medical law."

For more information on the IML visit http://www.law.bham.ac.uk