UK AD treatment "lags behind" Europe, NICE urged to reconsider drugs policy

The UK's National Institute for Health and Clinical Excel-lence should revise its preliminary recommendations for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (Marketletters passim) and allow patients at all stages of the illness to have access to drug treatments, according to a European patients' group. The NICE gave until February 13 for responses to its Appraisal Consultation Document (pub-lished January 23). The ACD covers the use of Eisai/ Pfizer's Aricept (donepezil), Novartis' Excelon (rivastig-mine) and Johnson & Johnson/Shire's Reminyl (galanta-mine), all of which would only be made available for patients with medium severity AD and Forest Laboratories' Namenda/Axura (memantine), which would not be used for any categories of Alzheimer's patients.

UK treatment "already lags behind" Europe

Jean Georges, Director of Alzheimer Europe, claimed that "research indicates that the United Kingdom already lags behind comparable European countries in numbers of patients treated. The NICE recommendations would fur-ther exacerbate this difference. Access to treatment and services should not be dictated by geography alone."