Rationing of MS drugs halted

New patients were being refused beta interferon

Health board officials in Glasgow have been ordered to stop rationing drugs for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

Officials decided to save money by refusing beta interferon to new patients despite a Scottish Executive pledge to prescribe it to anyone who would benefit from it.

Last week NHS Greater Glasgow decided it could not afford the costs and would not offer the drug to any new patients.

Health Minister Malcolm Chisholm described the move as "unacceptable" and has now ordered the board to comply with his directions.

The board said it would have to trim other services to expand beta-interferon provision.

Roisin Brady, who has been suffering from MS for 15 years, would like to trial beta interferon treatment to see if it can improve her condition.

The one thing that may help, they've said no they can't get it

Roisin Brady,
MS patient

But the health board has not assessed her suitability for the treatment.

She said the restrictions on treatment are "absolutely appalling".

"How can they do that to people with an incurable illness?

"The one thing that may help, they've said no they can't get it."

Mr Chisholm has now forced the board to rethink.

"Certainly it's not acceptable that they should be freezing the number of patients receiving this treatment," he said.

"Not everyone with MS, we are told by clinicians, will benefit from this treatment, but a significant number will and we've said that those people should be assessed and if they are in the category that would benefit form beta interferon they should get it."

In a statement, the board said the "assessment of MS patients will continue" following talks with the executive.

Many patients in Scotland are still being denied treatment depending on where they live

Jim Eadie
ABPI

It added that the move would mean cutting £600,000 from elsewhere and the "delaying of some projects" for a number of months.

The board said the number of patients on beta interferon had risen from nine to 75 in the last 12 months and a further 71 patients were waiting to be assessed for treatment.

The move came as Audit Scotland reported a 13% annual increase in Scotland's national drugs bill which it attributed to guidelines aimed at ending so-called postcode prescribing.

The report said the quality and efficiency of prescribing by family doctors has improved over the last three years.

It also identified further potential savings of £14m, which it said can be achieved by increased use of generic alternatives and cheaper standard alternatives.

But the report suggested that any further savings will be considerably overtaken by increased expenditure on drugs recommended to health boards and trusts in national guidelines.

Rising costs

The report calls for these guidelines to include an assessment of their cost impact in order to allow health boards and trusts to set more accurate budgets.

Total spending on primary care prescribing is about £845m a year and is rising at a rate of about 13% annually.

The report said the cost of prescribing for treatment of cardiovascular and central nervous system problems alone had risen by £28m in six months.

Jim Eadie, Scottish director of the pharmaceutical trade association, ABPI, said: "Patients have the right to the best, most appropriate medicine for their condition, not simply the cheapest.

"While the increase in prescribing is being improved by clinical guidelines and evidence based medicine, many patients in Scotland are still being denied treatment depending on where they live."