We received a petition asking:
“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to change the licensing conditions relating to monoclonal antibody drugs, such as Cetuximab and Herceptin, which have been shown to be effective in cancer treatment, to make these drugs readily available on the NHS and, in the meantime, to allow cancer patients to pay for these drugs whilst still receiving the rest of their treatment on the NHS.”
Details of Petition:
“Monoclonal antibodies work differently from standard treatment, attacking cancer cells specifically. They give patients the chance for a longer & better quality of life. NICE ordains they should not be prescribed because ‘they do not represent value for money’ Government guidelines now insist that those who wish to pay for these drugs to supplement their NHS treatment should be denied any further NHS cancer treatment & should pay privately for all their current & subsequent treatment. This is just reducing our health service to the lowest possible level for all.”
· Read the petition
· Petitions homepage
Read the Government’s response
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) was established in 1999 to provide authoritative, independent advice to the NHS on drugs and treatments. NICE does not license drugs - this is the responsibility of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the UK and the European Medicines Agency in the European Union as a whole.
NICE has carried out more than 50 cancer drug appraisals and has recommended the use of the great majority of these for at least some NHS patients. NICE recommends the use of the drug Herceptin for both early and advanced HER-2 positive breast cancer, and is currently appraising Erbitux (cetuximab) for use as a first-line treatment in metastatic colorectal cancer.
There is a statutory obligation on the NHS to provide funding for treatments and drugs recommended by NICE within three months of guidance being published. The Government has also issued guidance to the NHS making clear that it is not acceptable for the local NHS to cite a lack of NICE guidance as a reason for refusing to fund a treatment.
The policy for patients who may wish to buy additional drugs privately is currently being reviewed by Professor Mike Richards, the Department of Health’s National Clinical Director for Cancer. Professor Richards is a highly respected clinician who understands the difficulties patients and their families face in these exceptionally difficult cases. He will report to the Secretary of State for Health at the end of October, and the findings will be made public shortly afterwards. The petition details have been passed to Professor Richards for consideration as part of the review.
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