A former head of the UK drugs regulator has been banned from working as a doctor after failing to reveal his convictions for child sex offences.
Dr Ian Hudson trained as a paediatrician and worked in the pharmaceutical industry before going on to serve as chief executive of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for six years.
But a tribunal this week ruled his fitness to practice is impaired and ordered his erasure from the General Medical Council’s register of doctors, preventing him from practicing in the UK.
The panel heard Hudson was convicted at Chelmsford Magistrate’s Court in 2024 of two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child.
He was sentenced to a six month custodial sentence suspended for 18 months, forced to sign the sex offenders register for ten years and subjected to a five year sexual harm prevention order.
But the father-of-one failed in his duty to notify the GMC of the charges and convictions ‘without delay’, the Medical Practitioner’s Tribunal Service was told.
The hearing, presided over by three tribunal members, determined his conduct and offending were at the upper end of the scale of seriousness and there was a ‘high risk’ to public safety.
They suspended Hudson from the GMC’s Register with immediate effect and he will be permanently struck off he fails to appeal the outcome within 28 days.
The GMC asked the tribunal to erase Hudson from the its Register, citing the seriousness of his offences and the importance of maintaining public confidence in the medical profession.
Arguing that ‘the Tribunal could not conclude that Hudson’s behaviour’s wouldn’t be repeated and that the level of risk was high with only limited insight and that remediation was limited and incomplete,’ it also asked that an immediate suspension order be imposed during the customary 28 day appeal period.
Hudson, who represented himself at the virtual hearing, insisted ‘he had good insight into his actions and had done as much to remediate as he could think of’.
He said there were ‘elements of his work that required him to be on the medical register despite having no contact with patients’ and asked to remain on it – but with restrictions that prevented him from working with children in a medical capacity.
Given his significant expertise and experience ‘he still had a lot to offer for the benefit of wider society and could do so without risking the public,’ he added.
The GMC said there were no extenuating circumstances for the Tribunal to take into account.
Dr Hudson began his medical career in the 1980s working as a paediatrician.
According to his official Government biography he worked in pharmaceutical research and development team at SmithKleinBeecham for 12 years before his appointment in 2001 as the Head of Licensing at the MHRA’s predecessor the Medicine’s Control Agency.
He served as the MHRA’s Chief Executive from 2013 to 2019.
Following his departure from the MHRA, Hudson was awarded an OBE in the 2020 New Years Honours in recognition of his leadership and work on healthcare regulation and medicines oversight.
Hudson later worked for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as its Senior Advisor, Regulatory Affairs, Integrated Development, Global Health until 2024.
His appointment by the BMGF immediately following his tenure as MHRA Chief Executive was subject to review by the Office of the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments who imposed two conditions restricting his use of privileged non-public information acquired during his time at the MHRA and prohibiting any direct involvement in lobbying the UK government.
More recently he has worked a director, advisor or consultant for various heath firms.
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