Pain relief drug ruled too costly for the NHS

Thousands of arthritis sufferers will be denied treatment with proven benefits by a decision not to pay for a new drug, reports The Times today.

In another example of how the extra £2.5bn a year that the government has unjustifiably pledged to the EU could be used to help those who need it most - rather than handed to an organisation that has failed its audit for twelve years in a row - the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is to recommend that the new drug Abtacept (Orencia) does not represent "value for money".

Yet the drug has been shown to improve dramatically the severest symptoms of arthritis in almost half of patients.

Its manufacturer, Bristol Myers Squibb, estimated in its application to NICE that around 3,500 patients a year would benefit. But other studies show that around 12,000 patients could potentially benefit.

Published data shows that in trials Abatacept produced a 50% reduction in symptoms in about 40% of the patients who used it in conjunction with an older drug, methotrexate.

Though the cost would be about £9,300 a year on average, all of those treated would be sufferers who had already been treated unsuccessfully with anti-TNF drugs, which are equally expensive.

Ailsa Bosworth, chief executive of the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society said, “This is extremely bad news for people living with severe rheumatoid arthritis.

“Denying patients the option of Abatacept leaves some of them with the unacceptable choices of being put back on to treatments they have already failed on, palliative care or taking large doses of steroids, which have unacceptable side-effects over the long term.”

A NICE spokesman said: “Having examined cost-effectiveness analyses on the drug against a range of comparators, the committee concluded that Abatacept could not be considered a cost-effective use of NHS resources.”

The problems of balancing drug costs against benefits have led a growing number of patients who are denied treatments to resort to legal action.

Undoubtedly, any MPs who approve this blatant waste of public money by voting in favour of the European Communities (Finance) Bill when it comes before Parliament in the next session will forfeit any claim to be supporting the development of a modern, effective health service.