Written question asked by Gordon Prentice (Labour) on Monday, 8 January 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 15 January 2001. It was answered by John Denham (Labour) on Monday, 15 January 2001 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he plans to modify his Department's 1995 advice on drug therapies for MS to include Copaxone; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he plans to modify his Department's 1995 advice on drug therapies for MS to include Copaxone; and if he will make a statement. [144858] Mr. Denham: There are no plans to modify Executive Letter 95(97) issued by the Department in 1995 to include glatiramer acetate (Copaxone). The Department issued Health Service Circular 1999/176 in August 1999. This asks National Health Service bodies to continue with local arrangements for the managed introduction of new technologies where guidance from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is not available at the time the technology first became available. These arrangements should involve an assessment of all the available evidence. We expect NICE to produce authoritative guidance on both Beta Interferon and glatiramer acetate later this year.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 361 c52W; 144858
Session: 2000-01
Subjects: Codes of practice Diseases Medical treatments Prescription drugs Multiple sclerosis National Institute for Clinical Excellence Glatiramer acetate
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk