PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Simon P Hammond AU - Jane L Cross AU - Fiona M Poland AU - Martyn Patel AU - Bridget Penhale AU - Toby O Smith AU - Chris Fox TI - Freedom of Information Act: scalpel or just a sharp knife? AID - 10.1136/medethics-2016-103609 DP - 2017 Jan 01 TA - Journal of Medical Ethics PG - 60--62 VI - 43 IP - 1 4099 - http://jme.bmj.com/content/43/1/60.short 4100 - http://jme.bmj.com/content/43/1/60.full SO - J Med Ethics2017 Jan 01; 43 AB - The concluding statement of the Burns Commission, established to evaluate whether changes are needed to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), ruled no major legislative changes were required. As such Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation still enables anyone to obtain information from public authorities. In this brief report article we explore arguments regarding FOI as an instrument for healthcare research using an international research programme as a case study.