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NHS to fund treatment for 10000 patients with MS

BMJ 2002; 324 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.324.7333.316a (Published 09 February 2002) Cite this as: BMJ 2002;324:316
  1. Ruth Little
  1. BMJ

    Patients with multiple sclerosis will now be able to have “disease modifying” drugs under a new government scheme of “risk sharing” for England and Wales, the Department of Health announced this week. Patients who are assessed as likely to benefit from the drugs will be given them until they are deemed to be no longer effective.

    Simultaneously, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) released its “guidance on drugs for multiple sclerosis” which recommended against the use of interferon beta or glatiramer acetate by the NHS on the basis of “clinical and cost effectiveness.”

    NICE recommended in October that the Department of Health, the National Assembly for Wales, and drug manufacturers should explore cost effective ways of making the drugs available to patients with multiple sclerosis (10 November, p 1087). In response the NHS and five pharmaceutical manufacturers have …

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