Drug-fight grandad’s family greet ruling

Jan 10 2008 by Audrey Barton, The Journal

THE family of a North-East grandfather who had to fight for life-prolonging drugs on the NHS has welcomed a report which criticises the funding process.

MPs on the Health Select Committee have criticised the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) over the way it approves drugs for use on the NHS.

They said some methods used by Nice were outdated and some NHS trusts felt forced to fund Nice-appraised drugs at the expense of treatments for other patients.

The “affordability” of Nice guidance and the threshold it uses to decide whether a treatment is cost-effective is of serious concern, said the MPs.

Committee members have recommended that the threshold used by Nice should be reviewed by an independent body and that drugs should be evaluated as soon as they are launched to cut delays in getting them to patients.

Steve Tiffin’s father Arthur, 53, of North Walbottle, Newcastle, died from mesothelioma last summer after a two-year battle to get the life-prolonging drug Altimta funded on the NHS.

The grandfather led the campaign which saw Alimta funded in the North-East after initially being refused the drug which campaigners believe extends the lives of terminally-ill patients.

Steve Tiffin, 30, said: “It is heart-breaking reading stories of people who have had to sell their homes to pay for the treatment of a loved one.

“Having Nice evaluate the drug at the same time as it is being licensed should increase the speed at which the drug is funded, which can only be a good thing. I wish this had have been the case when Dad was diagnosed.”

The study by the Health Select Committee praised the “vital role” Nice plays in selecting drugs in difficult circumstances.

But it said there were areas that needed attention, including setting up an independent body to determine the threshold at which treatments are deemed cost-effective.

Nice has been heavily criticised by drug companies, campaigners and some academics for being too arbitrary in the way its cost threshold is used to evaluate drugs.

Committee chairman Kevin Barron said: “While the committee has raised concerns about aspects of how Nice does its job, we have confidence that the Institute can respond effectively to our recommendations.”

A decision on funding of Alimta is yet to be made.