UK NEWS

BOOST FOR ALZHEIMER DRUG FIGHT

ARICEPT: Costs £2.50 a day

Friday May 2,2008

UP TO 100,000 Alzheimer’s patients who have been denied a vital NHS drug won new hope yesterday following a ground-breaking High Court decision.

Three judges ruled that the Government’s drugs rationing body should have been more open about how it decided which drugs to approve and which to deny.

The ruling means that the makers of the Alzheimer’s drug Aricept can now come up with new evidence that shows why it should be given to patients across England.

This boosts hope that in the future the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) will give the £2.50-a-day drug greater NHS approval.

In 2001 Nice said that Aricept, which helps people with the disease to carry out simple tasks, should be provided on the NHS.

But at the end of 2006, a review by Nice said the drug should only be offered to people who had moderate Alzheimer’s and not those in its early stages.

Victims’ families protested that the drug enabled patients to dress themselves again and stop wandering off on their own.

Last night Nice warned that the High Court ruling may not be good news for all as it could slow the process to get NHS drugs approved. “It will increase the complexity of our drug appraisals in some cases,” said chief executive Andrew Dillon.