Money is the issue, so will the UK have the worst cancer survival figures in Europe? There still have to be some happy medium whereby drugs are affordable and researchers can still be rewarded. If the drugs never get to the the afflicted patients, what good is all the research and non availability? We have some similar issues going on here in the US as well, perhaps not to the same degree, but availability is still the issue along with cost. BD
Patient groups said the decision, announced today by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), would condemn many sufferers of kidney cancer to an "early death". The four prohibited medicines include Sutent, which can prolong life in kidney cancer patients by up to two years. The draft guidance also rejects Avastin, Nexavar and Torisel. Nice said the drugs were too expensive, at about £24,000 a year per patient, for the benefits they offered and would mean the health service was less able to afford more cost-effective drugs for other illnesses. However, the decision reignites the debate around how the NHS prioritizes which drugs are approved for use.
Kidney patients denied 'too expensive' life-extending drugs - Telegraph
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