The National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) is urging the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to reconsider its recommendation in the Appraisal Consultation Document issued on 1st October, not to prescribe tocilizumab (RoActemra) for the treatment of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis.
Ailsa Bosworth, chief executive of NRAS, said: “This is extremely bad news for people living with severe rheumatoid arthritis in the UK and a potential step backwards in the management of the condition, if this decision is not reversed.
“Denying patients the option of tocilizumab leaves some of them with the unacceptable choices of being put back onto treatments they have already failed on, or palliative care, taking large doses of steroids which have extremely unacceptable side effects such as osteoporosis when given over the long term.
“The guidance recommends denying our most severely ill rheumatoid arthritis sufferers one less vital step in their treatment pathway. We simply cannot accept that individuals should be denied the chance of at least regaining some quality of life and condemning them to a life of pain and disability, which could be as or even more expensive to the NHS as well as society as a whole if people, as a consequence of not being able to access clinically effective therapies, lose their jobs.”
Peter Taylor, medical advisor of NRAS, said: “Not only is this appalling news for patients and the Health Professionals who treat them, but it is sending a clear message to the companies who are currently investing in innovative medical research programmes into inflammatory forms of arthritis that the UK market is becoming less relevant. This is hugely detrimental to UK PLC.”