RCP: Nice guidance is still flawed
Monday, 23 Jan 2006 14:27
David Wilson, spokesman for the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCP), expressed relief that Nice recommended that key Alzheimer’s drugs should remain available on the NHS, but highlights flaws in the new guidance.
Nice has proposed that donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine could be prescribed only to people with moderate to severe symptoms of the disease.
Dr Wilson said: “Professionals will be in the impossible situation of withholding beneficial treatments from people with dementia because they are not ill enough.
"Drug treatments that work must be available to those who need them, and clinicians should be able to use their professional judgment to decide when to prescribe them."
He urged Nice to consider the views of the public during the three-week consultation period, saying, “we hope that Nice will listen again to the views of professionals, people with dementia and their carers and ensure that people are not denied effective drug treatments because of cost”.