Alzheimer's Society: Nice process is flawed
Friday, 02 May 2008 15:24
The Alzheimer's Society claims the process used by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) on drugs for dementia was "fundamentally flawed".
Controversy over the availability of four drugs - Aricept, Exelon, Reminyl and Ebixa - led to a judicial review of the decision-making process Nice used in relation to them.
The Court of Appeal ruled that Nice should be more transparent about its cost/effectiveness analysis.
Alzheimer's Society chief executive Neil Hunt said the decision was a "damning indictment of the fundamentally flawed process used by Nice to deny people with Alzheimer's disease access to drug treatments".
"Time and quality of life have been snatched away from thousands of vulnerable people who learned they have this devastating disease this year," he added.
"This decision must now be urgently revisited to ensure everyone with Alzheimer's disease is given access to these drug treatments on the NHS which cost just £2.50 per person per day."
Mr Hunt continued: "One in three people who live past the age of 65 will die with dementia; for the price of a cup of coffee a day treatments can improve their lives and the lives of their families.
"Nice's remit must be changed to ensure the wider benefits of treatments are always taken into account."