"Unlawful" UK osteoporosis guidance still in effect while re-evaluation takes place

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has initiated an evaluation of its guidance on the use of bisphosphonates,  after the High Court in London ruled that the agency's policy was indeed  unlawful in not releasing the economic model it used to make its  recommendations (Marketletter March 2).

The NICE, which reviews treatments for National Health Service patients  across the UK and Wales, had stipulated that physicians should only  prescribe a cheap generic version of Merck & Co's off-patent Fosamax  (alendronate) in the early stages of the condition, despite it being  unsuitable for over one in five patients (Marketletter November 3,  2008).

The National Osteoporosis Society, a non-profit patients' group and the  UK unit of the French drugmaker Servier Laboratories, challenged the  guidance because many patients who are unable to tolerate  bisphosphonates (currently recommended as the initial approach) have to  wait for their bone mineral density to deteriorate before they are given  an alternative treatment.