UK NEWS

COURT BATTLE OVER ALZHEIMER'S DRUG

Use of drug by NHS to treat Alzheimer's is the centre of a legal dispute.

Monday April 14,2008

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A battle over the funding for Alzheimer's drugs on the NHS is due to go before the Court of Appeal.

The manufacturer of Aricept is fighting a decision to restrict access to patients in the later stages of the disease.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) ruled the drugs are not cost effective for patients in the early stages of Alzheimer's - a decision upheld by the High Court last year.

Drugs company EISAI is taking the case to the appeal court arguing whether Nice followed a fair and transparent process in reaching its decision.

Nice had decided that the drugs, which cost about £2.50 a day, did not make enough of a difference to recommend them for all patients.

AND BROWN WONDERS WHY HE'S DESPISED

14.04.08, 1:35pm

Freeloaders travelling across the globe to get here and receiving expensive drugs for aids and TB that they brought with them.
But native Brits denied drugs costing a piffling amount by comparison.
Thanks a lot nu Labour your party stinks.

• Posted by: thewarlord • Report Comment

IS NICE IS NASTY

14.04.08, 9:36am

NICE was created by this government to approve new drugs for the NHS in what they call cost effective terms. This has come to mean that many new drugs used with beneficial results in most other European countries are denied to us on grounds of cost. That sufferers of Alzheimer's have to resort to the courts to get treatment of available and inexpensive drugs is nothing short of shameful. It is high time we had a comparison chart of European health services so we can see just where our much lauded NHS stands.

• Posted by: splodge • Report Comment