The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is a
government body which was set up in 2003 to bring together the functions of
the Medicines Control Agency (MCA) and the Medical Devices Agency (MDA).
These include the regulation of medicines
and medical devices and equipment used in
healthcare and the investigation of harmful
incidents. The MHRA now also looks after blood
and blood products, working with UK blood
services, healthcare providers, and other relevant
organisations to improve blood quality and safety.
The principal aim of the Agency is to safeguard
the public’s health. It does this by making sure that
medicines and medical devices―from painkillers
to pacemakers―work properly and are acceptably
safe; and by responding promptly when new
concerns come to light. No product is completely
free of risk but sound evidence underpins all the
MHRA’s decisions to ensure that these risks