The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 270 No 7248 p640
10 May 2003

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Multiple Sclerosis Society (www.mssociety.org.uk)

Over 1,000 patients still waiting for drug assessments, says MS charity

More than 1,000 people with multiple sclerosis are still waiting to see if they will qualify for treatment under the Department of Health's risk-sharing scheme for disease-modifying drugs, according to the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

A survey for the society found that nearly one in five of the 7,500 to 9,000 people estimated to be eligible for treatment under the scheme are still waiting for an assessment date. The survey results were unveiled a year after recruitment to the scheme was due to start. Of those respondents who are in the scheme, 40 per cent are receiving treatment and another 16 per cent have been assessed and are waiting to start.

Mike O'Donovan, chief executive of the MS Society, said: "Though the scheme is working well in many parts of the United Kingdom, people in a number of areas have not yet been given a date for assessment let alone begun treatment. So the notorious postcode lottery lives on. It now seems unlikely that the Department's target of clearing the backlog of qualifying patients by November will be met."

Under the scheme, patients are assessed by a specialist neurologist using criteria drawn up by the Association of British Neurologists. The scheme got off to a slow start last year and it was suggested that it might take 18 months for the assessments to be completed (PJ, 3 August 2002, p153). Eligible patients can receive either beta interferon (Avonex/Rebif/Betaferon) or glatiramer acetate (Copaxone).

The scheme is intended to run for 10 years and the price paid by the NHS for the medicines will be determined on a sliding scale dependent on the progress made by patients.