Sonia Macleod

Sonia runs a project on international comparison of no-fault compensation schemes for adverse events following covid-19 vaccination. More information on this project can be found here. 

She has a strong interest in no-blame resolution and alternatives to litigation, particularly in healthcare. In 2022 she and Christopher Hodges published No-Fault approaches in the NHS.  Her earlier book, Redress Schemes for Personal Injuries (Hart 2017), provided a major comparative study of personal injury compensation schemes (jointly authored with Christopher Hodges and others). Media coverage of Infected blood, Vaccine damage payments, the Post Office Horizon, Windrush compensation, etc. has kept compensation schemes firmly in the public and political consciousness. Sonia remains actively engaged in policy development in this area. 

In 2019 Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Safety: A Study in Public and Private Regulation (jointly authored with Dr Sweta Chakraborty) was published. It considered 35 major medicines and medical devices liability claims, to determine whether the safety signal came from litigation, doctors, or the post-marketing vigilance systems. This book systematically examines how well patient safety is protected by public and private regulation, and how these systems have evolved over the years.  

In 2019-2020 Sonia was the Lead researcher for the Independent Medicines and Medical Device Safety Review, which was been set up to examine safety concerns raised by Primodos and other hormonal pregnancy tests, sodium valproate and vaginal mesh. The strategic recommendations within the IMMDS report, First Do No Harm, have had a considerable impact on healthcare policy. Following on from the IMMDS report Sonia was an Advisor on the 2024 Hughes Report into Options for Redress for those injured by Valproate and Pelvic Mesh.