The good news is that NICE (which should be NIHCE by the way) is going to allow patients with rare diseases to receive important new drugs which have not been appraised by the NHS rationing body, Nice (National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence).
It will allow the makers to build up sufficient evidence on the benefits of the drugs which will then be used by Nice to decide if the medicine is cost effective enough for the NHS.
The bad news is that in order for the “makers to build up sufficient evidence on the benefits of the drugs” it will cost us £25 Million Andrew Dillon, Chief Executive of Nice, said: "We recognise that for a small number of very promising new treatments, the evidence available may not reveal their full potential benefits for patients.
"Where there is a high risk that a Nice appraisal of a new treatment at the point of its first use in the NHS might underestimate its benefits, providing the opportunity to gather more evidence and making the treatment available before undertaking an appraisal is the right thing to do.
“We’re happy to play our part in making this new arrangement work well, and that it works in the interests of patients and the NHS.”
The Innovation Pass pilot consultation will run for 10 weeks, closing on 8th February 2010. Input and comments are welcome from all groups including stakeholders, industry, the NHS and patient groups.
Here’s a comment: why are we paying money to the Pharmas to collect data on THEIR drugs when NICE is refusing cancer patients drugs on the basis of cost?
A bit of bad news:
The latest brown runny stuff to hit the whirly thing is of course the ‘revelation’ that the ratings given by the CQC may not be quite accurate.
Well surprise bloody surprise, Dr Foster that old medical man who went to Gloucester in the rain I believe has “discovered” that 27 trusts had unusually high death rates.
But the Care Quality Commission, which has issued its official ratings within the past month, said it saw no need to intervene to make improvements.
Its chairwoman said Dr Foster's report was part legitimate, part alarmist.
On Thursday, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) sent a task force into Basildon and Thurrock NHS Trust in Essex after it uncovered major lapses in hygiene and unusually high death rates.
Just 24 hours later, the chairman of Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust was sacked after inspectors found it had consistently failed to improve waiting times and had death rates 12% higher than expected.
Bloggers have been telling the ‘powers that be’ this for years, but as usual no one listened
If you want more info see Fridays post, but don’t bother to use the Dr Foster site because it keeps crashing.
And the Odd news:
A mother is being taken to court by her ex-partner for refusing to allow their daughter to have the swine flu vaccine.
The 44-year-old, a former international consultant, opted to take her daughter, 9, out of the immunisation programme run at her private school because she had reservations about the safety of the vaccine.
After spending hours researching it and speaking with friends in the medical profession, she decided that not enough was known about the long-term effects of the vaccine, and that her child, who has no medical problems, should not have it.
The mother said: "My former partner is adamant that he wants her to have the swine flu vaccine.
"I received an email from him saying he really wanted her to have the vaccine and I wrote back explaining my reasons and telling him it wasn't a decision I had taken lightly.
"The next thing I know, I received a letter telling me to attend court on Monday. His letter notified me of his application for a specific issue order, which I am told means our daughter could be made a ward of court and the judge could decide that she must have the injection.
"He knows I can't afford lawyers to fight him."
NHS figures show that under 16s are the age group most likely to be admitted to hospital with swine flu, while 21 per cent of deaths in England are among under-14s.
The Government says that trials of the swine flu vaccine have proved it to be as safe as the normal seasonal flu vaccine.
However, a poll of doctors for Pulse Magazine found that 49 per cent would refuse to have it, while a similar survey for GP magazine found 29 per cent would opt out, with 71 per cent stating safety fears as their reason why.
The Vaccine is being “tested” to identify any rare side effects of the swine flu vaccination by scientists in Dundee.
Although already tested as part of the licensing process, the new study will focus on any effects not picked up by routine clinical trials of the vaccine.
Discuss...
Angus
Angus Dei on all and sundry
AnglishLit
Angus Dei politico
No comments:
Post a Comment