Cancer patients still being denied drugs despite new guidelines

Cancer patients still being denied drugs despite new guidelines

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Monday, 15, Mar 2010 03:02

By Richard James.

Thousands of cancer patients are still being denied treatment despite new guidelines aimed at improving access to medication, a campaign group has declared.

A report by the Rarer Cancers Forum (RCF) states up to 16,000 patients a year with less common conditions are being denied medication which could allow them to live longer.

Guidelines introduced in 2009 were designed to increase the amount of medication given to terminal patients but the RCF claims while the NHS medicines regulator Nice has approved treatments that could benefit up to 8,450 people it has also rejected medicines which could help double that number.

The campaign group has called for an urgent independent review of the guidelines claiming the new advice was currently being interpreted in a "confusing" way.

RCF chief executive Andrew Wilson-Webb added: "The cancer community is of the opinion that Nice now is nothing more than a rationing body for the NHS, which is not what it was set up for."

The report claims Nice currently takes up to 21 months to decide if drugs can be used on NHS, a long way off the government target of six months.

Responding to the report, Sir Andrew Dillon, chief executive of the medicines watchdog said: "We have introduced significant additional latitude in its appraisal of treatments for cancer, particularly where they are designed to extend life, at the end of life.

"Our end of life treatments protocol, introduced at the beginning of 2009, has already made it possible for very expensive cancer treatments, which extend life for short periods, to be recommended when our standard approach to valuing new drugs would have resulted in more cautious guidance."