Interesting comments from Gene Watch (anyone know how reliable they are?)
"(vi) The appointment of Dr Walport to jointly run the consultation is inexplicable, given his ongoing role in lobbying for access to electronic medical record data by the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, including access to sensitive personal information in the ‘sealed’ and ‘sealed and locked’ envelopes of electronic medical records for research (contrary to the recommendations of the Health Select Committee)"

The Helsinki Declaration states: (22) “The subject should be informed of the right to abstain from participation in the study or to withdraw consent to participate at any time without reprisal”.