New drugs help for eye patients

Jan 29 2008 by David Higgerson, Liverpool Daily Post

A DRUG which could help save the sight of at least 700 people every year in Merseyside is to be made available to everyone who needs it.

Primary Care Trusts across Merseyside have agreed to automatically fund Macugen, which costs £8,000 a year, and Lucentis, which costs £18,000 a year, to help beat Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD).

The drugs are not yet approved by the National Insititue for Clinical Excellence (Nice) for treatment of AMD, meaning that normally people have to ask special permission from PCTs for it to be funded for them.

But the NHS North West Commissioning Team, which advises PCTs in the region on whether to start using drugs ahead of Nice approval, has ruled the drugs should be handed out as standard for AMD.

GPs and consultants will now be able to refer suitable candidates to the St Paul’s Eye Unit, at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, without having to seek prior approval from the local PCT.

Prof Simon Harding, from St Paul’s, said: “This is excellent news for our patients.

“Wet AMD is devastating for patients and their families.

“With new treatments, we can arrest the degeneration of their sight and improve the quality of their life immeasurably.”

Wet AMD is a condition that is responsible for 90% of all cases of blindness. More than 18,000 people suffer from it in the UK, and it is the commonest cause of sight loss.

Macugen and Lucentis do not work for everyone, as sometimes the damage is too far gone, but in suitable people it can stop them from going completely blind, making early detection and treatment vital.

Last year, Nice, which will make a final decision on the AMD drugs later this year, ruled against backing their use.

Barbara McLaughan, RNIB campaigns manager, said: "This is great news for people in Merseyside. RNIB welcomes the decision by the Liverpool PCT and other PCTs in the area to not only implement the revised Nice recommendations, but to lower the eligibility criteria so that more patients with Wet AMD can be treated. We also support the decision to make both Lucentis and Macugen available, as this will give consultants a wider choice of treatment options for patients.”

It is not the first time expert opinion in the North West has led Merseyside’s PCTs to offer drugs ahead of Nice backing.

In December, the Liverpool Daily Post revealed that Sutent, which is believed to help sufferers of kidney cancer, would be made available to patients in Cheshire and Merseyside, even though Nice had yet to reach a decision.

davidhiggerson