Written question asked by Chris Pond (Labour) on Friday, 1 March 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 19 March 2002. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Tuesday, 19 March 2002 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidelines his Department has given on prescribing medication to patients with arthritis.

Answer: Mr. Pond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidelines his Department has given on prescribing medication to patients with arthritis. [40773] Jacqui Smith: Health service circular 1999-176 advises national health service bodies to use their existing arrangements to determine local prescribing policies, using the publicly available evidence to inform their decision. Local policies may therefore reflect differing assessments and interpretations of evidence along with differing local circumstances and priorities. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has been asked to appraise the use of infliximab (Remicade) and etanecerpt (Enbrel) in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis for adults and etanercept only for juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). Unless there are appeals, NICE expects to issue its guidance in March 2002 for etanercept for JIA and guidance on the etanercept and infliximab appraisal for adults in April 2002. NICE also has anakinra for rheumatoid arthritis on their appraisal work programme and guidance is expected in July 2003, providing there are no appeals.

Secondary information