Written question asked by Lord Barker of Battle (Conservative) on Tuesday, 15 October 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 5 November 2002. It was answered by Hazel Blears (Labour) on Tuesday, 5 November 2002 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations his Department has received concerning the number of patients that have been denied treatment with specific cancer drugs, including Herceptin, owing to delays in obtaining NICE guidance.

Answer: Gregory Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what representations his Department has received concerning the number of patients that have been denied treatment with specific cancer drugs, including Herceptin, owing to delays in obtaining NICE guidance. [75801] Ms Blears: Prior to publication of recommendations by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), the Department received numerous representations about the availability of Glivec for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia; Herceptin for the treatment of breast cancer and MabThera for the treatment of follicular lymphoma. The appraisal process, from referral to completion, has been designed to allow the full participation of patients, clinicians, companies and stakeholders. NICE is fully aware of the need to ensure that the process is as streamlined as possible, without losing any of the important safeguards it contains, in order to publish guidance soon after the treatments are launched. It is not acceptable for funding authorities to refuse to fund a newly licensed treatment just because it is awaiting appraisal by NICE. Decisions on funding should be based on local consideration of the available evidence when NICE appraisals are awaited.

Secondary information