This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/jul/28/cancer-sufferers-risk-losing-access-to-effective-drugs-says-support-group
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Cancer sufferers may lose access to effective drugs, says support group Cancer sufferers may lose access to effective drugs, says support group | |
| (about 20 hours later) | |
| Cancer patients in the UK will miss out on drugs available in other countries under new arrangements for deciding which expensive medicines the NHS will pay for, according to a charity. | Cancer patients in the UK will miss out on drugs available in other countries under new arrangements for deciding which expensive medicines the NHS will pay for, according to a charity. |
| Breast Cancer Now has criticised the relaunched Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF), which was originally a pot of money to pay for costly new medicines not considered cost effective or not yet assessed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice). | Breast Cancer Now has criticised the relaunched Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF), which was originally a pot of money to pay for costly new medicines not considered cost effective or not yet assessed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice). |
| The scheme was closed by NHS England in March after it overspent heavily and access to the new fund will be in effect controlled by Nice, raising fears that costly drugs could be ruled out by the body. | The scheme was closed by NHS England in March after it overspent heavily and access to the new fund will be in effect controlled by Nice, raising fears that costly drugs could be ruled out by the body. |
| NHS England has said the fund “had come under unsustainable financial pressure with calls for urgent reform coming from the independent Cancer Taskforce, the National Audit Office and from parliament’s public accounts committee”. | NHS England has said the fund “had come under unsustainable financial pressure with calls for urgent reform coming from the independent Cancer Taskforce, the National Audit Office and from parliament’s public accounts committee”. |
| The new system will ensure all cancer drugs in the process of getting a licence are evaluated by Nice and assessed for cost effectiveness. Those that are thought to be potentially useful but for which there is not enough evidence could be temporarily funded but evidence of how well they are working must be collected. | The new system will ensure all cancer drugs in the process of getting a licence are evaluated by Nice and assessed for cost effectiveness. Those that are thought to be potentially useful but for which there is not enough evidence could be temporarily funded but evidence of how well they are working must be collected. |
| However, some patient groups are alarmed by the changes. “The new CDF will do next to nothing to solve the wider problems that are preventing NHS patients from accessing the best cancer drugs,” said Baroness Morgan, the chief executive of Breast Cancer Now. | However, some patient groups are alarmed by the changes. “The new CDF will do next to nothing to solve the wider problems that are preventing NHS patients from accessing the best cancer drugs,” said Baroness Morgan, the chief executive of Breast Cancer Now. |
| “The CDF was set up because Nice’s methodology was not working for cancer drugs and this new process offers little change. With the fund’s drug assessment now being handed back to Nice, we worry that patients in England will miss out on effective drugs [that are] available in other countries.” | “The CDF was set up because Nice’s methodology was not working for cancer drugs and this new process offers little change. With the fund’s drug assessment now being handed back to Nice, we worry that patients in England will miss out on effective drugs [that are] available in other countries.” |
| Pharmaceutical company Roche, which makes a number of cancer drugs that have already lost CDF funding, is also unhappy. Richard Erwin, the general manager of Roche UK, said: “Cancer patients in England face an uncertain future as the new Cancer Drugs Fund comes into operation and many drugs have already lost funding. | Pharmaceutical company Roche, which makes a number of cancer drugs that have already lost CDF funding, is also unhappy. Richard Erwin, the general manager of Roche UK, said: “Cancer patients in England face an uncertain future as the new Cancer Drugs Fund comes into operation and many drugs have already lost funding. |
| “Now that the assessment of new cancer medicines for reimbursement has been returned to Nice, we must, as a matter of urgency, address the challenge they have in assessing the real clinical value of cancer treatments – which necessitated the creation of the original CDF in 2010.” | “Now that the assessment of new cancer medicines for reimbursement has been returned to Nice, we must, as a matter of urgency, address the challenge they have in assessing the real clinical value of cancer treatments – which necessitated the creation of the original CDF in 2010.” |