THOUSANDS LEFT TO DIE BY THE NHS
Scots denied vital drugs to help them live longer
THOUSANDS of cancer patients have been ‘cruelly’ let down by Scotland’s medicines watchdog after it rejected five life-extending drugs in less than a year for being too expensive.
Women suffering breast cancer condemned the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) after being refused three wonder drugs which would give them up to 18 months of extra time with their families.
Meanwhile, men with incurable prostate cancer have been denied two drugs, including one which was previously granted to the Lockerbie bomber.
The life-and-death decisions have all been made within the last 12 months – including two yesterday – despite the desperate pleas of cancer patients.
They also fly in the face of Health Secretary Shona robison’s claim that the SMC is increasing the number of end-oflife treatments approved.
The latest breast cancer drug rejected yesterday was Eribulin, which gives
terminally ill patients another two and a half months to live, on average.
Nicolas White, head of charity Breast Cancer Care Scotland, said: ‘The decision not to offer Eribulin through NHS Scotland is yet another door slammed shut for women with breast cancer. Today’s news will be particularly distressing for those with incurable breast cancer or limited treatment options.
‘We had hoped a new decision-making system would place patients at the heart of the proc- ess. Yet this judgment is a devastating reminder this is not the case.’
In turning down Eribulin, the SMC ignored patients and doctors consulted under its muchhyped Patient and Clinician Engagement (PACE) system. Despite pledging to give these people a ‘stronger voice’, it failed to follow their advice on giving women an invaluable ‘increase in quality time with loved ones’.
The SMC decided Eribulin, which costs just over £2,100 for a three-week course, was too expensive. Cost was also cited by the SMC for Kadcyla, a drug adding six months to the lives of women with HER-2 positive breast cancer, which it rejected in October.
A month later, breast cancer drug Perjeta was also turned down, denying an estimated 120 women in Scotland with secondary breast cancer another 16 months of life.
Eluned Hughes, acting director in Scotland for charity Breast Cancer Now, said: ‘Today’s news is just one symptom of a much bigger issue – this is not only the third breast cancer drug that has been rejected since the SMC system was revised, but it is also the most inexpensive. As such, we are concerned about what this pattern means for secondary breast cancer overall. The pharmaceutical industry and governments across the UK must work together to improve access to these life-extending drugs for patients.’
Yesterday, along with the latest breast cancer drug, the SMC also refused men with incurable prostate cancer a pill called Enzalutamide.
Considered for patients who have not yet had chemotherapy, the drug can stop the disease for an average of 17 months, putting the need for chemotherapy on hold.
Chief executive of Prostate Cancer UK Owen Sharp said: ‘Today’s cruel decision leaves hundreds of men without active treatment, and some with nowhere to turn but palliative care.’
It comes six months after the SMC rejected Abiraterone, a drug priced at more than £35,600 a year, despite being offered a discount.
Controversially given to Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi in Libya before his death, it offers prostate cancer sufferers an extra four months of life, on average.
Patients denied the life- extending drugs through the SMC can apply on a case-by-case basis to get them from their health board. But if they fall at this hurdle, the only option left for many is to raid their life savings.
Scottish Tory health spokesman Jackson Carlaw said last night the new system ‘is not working’.
He said: ‘These types of medicines offer immense benefits for those suffering from breast and prostate cancer. They offer more time with loved ones as well as an enhanced quality of life.’
A spokesman for the SMC said: ‘Our role is to accept medicines that are clinically effective and cost effective for routine use in NHS Scotland. In doing this we have to consider everyone who requires treatment by NHS Scotland, not only those who will benefit from the medicine in question.’
The watchdog said there was not enough evidence for the three breast cancer drugs or the two prostate cancer drugs.
It said it would reconsider a fresh submission for Eribulin, which has been promised by the drug company.
Miss Robison said: ‘These decisions will clearly be disappointing for some patients – however the independence of Scottish Medicines Consortium’s decision-making on individual drugs, free of any ministerial or political direction, is well-established.
‘Like the patient groups involved in the process, we are keen to see the pharmaceutical companies and SMC work together to find a way forward.’
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