|
THE SCOTTISH MEDICAL CONSORTIUM last week refused permission to allow National Health Service patients to receive Elan's multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri. The body which determines which drugs should be available within the NHS system said that the "economic case has not been demonstrated" for Tysabri's use within the hospital system. The application had been submitted by Elan's partner in Tysabri manufacture, Biogen Idec.
About 1,000 multiple sclerosis patients in Scotland will now be forced to pay for the treatment out of their own pockets. It could cost them Stg£15,000 ( 21,000) per year. Elan and Biogen Idec received limited approval earlier this year from the US Food and Drug Administration for the sale of Tysabri. Links to a potentially fatal brain disease led the agency to restrict its availability to patients who have not responded to other MS treatments.
|
YOU ARE HERE: 19 March 2007 / tribune.ie / 2006 / 12 / 17
Terms & Conditions 
