Herceptin: judge OKs "postcode lottery"

A ruling in the UK's High Court (Marketletter, February 13) means that patients will receive or be denied treatment for early breast cancer depending to their postcode, according to patients' rights campaigners.

The decision by Mr Justice Bean on February 15, that the Swindon Primary Care Trust acted lawfully in refusing to pay for Herceptin (trastuzumab) for a 54 year old woman, means that in the absence of a national guideline, patients will be treated according to local policy.

The UK's regulator of treatment standards, the National Institue of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has stated this week that it will report by August this year on the use of Herceptin in early-stage breast cancer, if a simultaneous application to the European Medicines Agency is successful. Until them, PCTs must decide whether to prescribe Herceptin without knowing if they will be reimbursed by the state.