Ain't National Health Systems just peechy?

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/9179428.Multiple_sclerosis_treatment_rejected_by_Nice/?ref=rss

Multiple sclerosis treatment rejected by Nice

A REVOLUTIONARY new pill for multiple sclerosis first tested in the North-East has been rejected by the medicines watchdog.

Last night, health campaigners expressed disappointment after the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), which vets drugs for use on the NHS, rejected fingolimod, the first pill to treat MS.

A former mayor of Middlesbrough, Mike Carr, who was an MS Society activist for 30 years, described the decision as callous.

Mr Carr, who has had two brothers develop the degenerative disease, blamed the Government for failing to adequately fund new drugs.

Professor David Bates, a clinical neurologist at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle, who has been running trials involving fingolimod, said he was surprised at the way Nice had assessed the new pill.

One of his patients, Gillian Rafferty, 46, from the Scottish Borders, said: “Since I was put on the drug nearly four years ago, I have not had any symptoms at all. It is fantastic.”

The MS Society urged Nice and drug firm Novartis to work together so fingolimod, also called Gilenya, can be reappraised.

In draft guidance, subject to consultation, Nice rejected the drug over uncertainties at its effectiveness, a lack of appropriate information and concerns of cost-effectiveness.

It said it was unclear how much the drug would help the group of people for whom it was licensed – adults with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis who experienced at least one relapse a year despite being treated with beta interferon drugs.

Professor Carole Longson, from Nice, said: “Our independent committee concluded that fingolimod would not be effective, good use of NHS resources.’’ MS Society chief executive Simon Gillespie said: ‘‘This is disappointing news for people with MS and it will leave some people with no effective treatment option.

“Access to MS treatments in the UK is very poor. People with MS would be better off living almost anywhere else in Europe, and this decision will only deepen that inequality.

“We are concerned at how this decision has been reached and now strongly encourage Nice and Novartis to work together to look at how the treatment can be better reconsidered and evaluated.”