Today’s decision reverses draft guidance issued last year which concluded that there was not enough evidence to support the use of these drugs for all patients.

After reviewing the evidence from clinical trials and responses from user groups and other stakeholders, NICE’s appraisal committee is now recommending that the three drugs ‘should be considered as options in the treatment of people with Alzheimer’s disease of moderate severity’. It has decided not to recommend the use of a fourth drug, Memantine, however.

Dr Stoate, who signed a Parliamentary motion last year calling on NICE to review their decision, said; “There is good evidence to suggest that these three drugs are of benefit to some patients with Alzheimer’s and I’m pleased that NICE has been prepared to look again at the evidence and review its decision. I’m aware that this decision does not go quite as far as some campaigners would have liked, but I think that it is important not to underestimate just how significant a step forward this is as far as patients and their carers are concerned. This decision will give individual specialists the scope to make a decision as to whether or not these drugs are appropriate for their patient that is based purely on their clinical need rather than on any other consideration.”
Note

NICE is expecting to issue final guidance to the NHS after a further consultation period in July 2006.

Early Day Motion 606, NICE and Alzheimer’s Disease said;

That this House congratulates the Department of Health on negotiating a reduction in the cost of branded drugs to the NHS of £112 million in the first five months of 2005; believes that these savings should be made available for other treatments; notes the recent draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) which, if upheld, would deny effective treatments to thousands of people with Alzheimer's disease, undermining the historic inclusiveness of the NHS for all patients; and calls on the Secretary of State for Health carefully to consider the representations made by patient groups to the current NICE Social Values Consultation, and to ensure a further draft is circulated for consultation before final decisions are made which might disadvantage certain patient groups.