TY - JOUR T1 - Freedom of Information Act: scalpel or just a sharp knife? JF - Journal of Medical Ethics JO - J Med Ethics SP - 60 LP - 62 DO - 10.1136/medethics-2016-103609 VL - 43 IS - 1 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 Y1 - 2017/01/01 UR - http://jme.bmj.com/content/43/1/60.abstract N2 - 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. ER -