The Pharmaceutical Journal Vol 264 No 7092 p570
April 15, 2000 News

NICE stalls speculation on taxanes

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence has refused to confirm what it intends to recommend as treatment guidelines for the use of taxanes in breast and ovarian cancer. As speculation that the institute would tell health authorities not to restrict the use of taxotere to treat breast cancer on grounds of cost grew on April 11, the NICE would only say that it did not comment on appraisals until the process was complete and guidance had been issued to health authorities and to the public. It expected to release its guidance on taxanes towards the end of the month. There was also speculation that the institute would say that more research was needed before taxol should be used to treat advanced breast cancer.

The NICE office at Long Acre, London

Whatever the final guidelines say, the NICE cannot require health authorities to fund treatment. This was made clear by its chairman (Professor Sir Michael Rawlins) at a recent meeting of the All-Party Pharmacy Group (PJ, April 8, p531).
"Suppose a new treatment for lung cancer cost £10,000 and gave a 90 per cent survival after two years," Sir Michael said at that meeting. "That is cost-effective, but it is not affordable - it would cost £0.5bn a year. The NICE cannot command the National Health Service to spend money. It is for the Government to decide what to spend it on."
Information about the NICE, its appraisal process and its expected timetable can be found on the internet at www.nice.org.uk.