|
MP's battle to end NHS drugs rationing
23 June 2007 09:13
A Norfolk MP is to have a showdown with health bosses next week in a bid to end drug rationing in the NHS.
Dr Ian Gibson will meet board members from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice), the government watchdog which makes decisions on which medicines are available for patients.
Nice is the subject of an inquiry by the Commons Health Select Committee because of moves to withdraw drugs for Alzheimer's, brain tumours, Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and other cancers.
Dr Gibson said: “I want to see an end to all this drug rationing in the health service. I will be meeting board members to see if we can get funding for drugs. To me it is simple - if a patient needs a drug that will make them better, or at least relieve some symptoms, they should be able to get it.
“I understand they have to work on a budget but I want to see if we can get secured government funding so no drugs are withdrawn.”
Dr Gibson will speak about medicines for Alzheimer's, bowel cancer, brain tumours and bone cancer myeloma.
Nice has rejected three drugs - Aricept, Reminyl and Exelon - which slow the effects of memory loss in Alzheimer's sufferers, because they cost up to £2.50 a day. It has also withdrawn Avastin, for bowel cancer, Tarceva and Alimta, which treat lung cancer, and Erbitux, which is used to treat head and neck cancer.
On Monday the fight against the decision to restrict access to the drug treatments for Alzheimer's disease will arrive at the Royal Courts of Justice in the first ever judicial review of Nice.
Until earlier this month, bone cancer sufferers were unable to get life-extending drug Velcade on the NHS. Health campaigners and MPs helped to get the decision reversed. However, the drug was made available with the proviso that the manufacturers refund the NHS when the treatment does not work.
Dr Gibson said: “If we can get schemes like this in place for all the medication it will be a real step forward. Campaigners for Velcade have helped to get this decision reversed but we need assurance that it will not be taken away again.”
Last month a coalition of charities, including the Alzheimer's Society and Bowel Cancer UK, branded the current “lottery” of drugs supplied by Nice inhumane.
As reported earlier this month, brain tumour patients are also being denied access to a drug which is available elsewhere in the region due to a lack of funds.
One course of Temozolomide costs £6,000 and it can double life expectancy in patients, but Norfolk Primary Care Trust, which faces a £47m debt, will not fund it.
Dr Gibson will meet four Nice board members on Wednesday morning in London.
Case study:
Sheila Walker, 64, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's at the age of 61 but she was displaying symptoms at the age of 55.
She now takes Ebixa and Aricept for her condition and her husband Peter, 71, said if she had not been given access to the drugs her condition would have continued to deteriorate.
She was prescribed the drugs by her GP before Nice agreed to take them out of the NHS and over the past 18 months her condition has remained stable.
Mr Walker, from Gawdy Road, Norwich said he welcomed any alternative funding for medication.
“I watched my wife go downhill rapidly with Alzheimer's,” he said. “I didn't know what to do. First of all she was prescribed Ebixa which really changed her.
“She was not with it at all and this drug made a big difference. Then a few months later she was given Aricept and since then she has been stable.
“Although she obviously still has Alzheimer's I am relieved her condition has not got worse. I cannot imagine what life would be like without this medication.
“I hope Nice will agree to some sort of funding method. People like my wife have paid taxes all their lives and now they cannot even get access to drugs which will help them.”
Have you had trouble getting treatment for an illness or disease? Call health reporter Sarah Hall on 01603 772426 or email sarah.hall2@archant.co.uk
Email A Friend
News: Latest headlines on Evening News 24 
|