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Blindness Fear For UK Diabetics After Eye Drug Rejected
Fri, 15 Jul 2011
Swiss drugmaker Novartis has had its expensive eye medication Lucentis rejected as a treatment for diabetic macular oedema (DMO) in the UK, a condition which can cause sight loss in people with diabetes .

Lucentis, which is injected into the eye, has been shown in clinical trials to produce "rapid and sustained" improvements in vision among those treated, while currently approved laser treatments tend to only stabilise vision and prevent further degeneration.

But despite this, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the UK’s health watchdog, said it was unable to recommend the drug for NHS prescription as it was a less cost-effective than standard laser therapy .

Charity group Diabetes UK criticised the decision, saying it was concerned that local health services would use it as an "excuse to stop treatment".

A spokesman for the group said: "We pressed hard to make this treatment available on the NHS and we will campaign for NICE to reconsider its decision."

"The cost of looking after people with sight loss far outweighs the cost of Lucentis treatment, let alone the human cost."

DMO affects around 10 per cent of British diabetics, equal to some 50,000 people in the UK.
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