Sight treatment to continue at QEH
HEALTH bosses at Lynn's Queen Elizabeth Hospital have welcomed a decision to press ahead with a revolutionary sight-saving treatment which could stop hundreds of patients going blind.
Last Tuesday Norfolk Primary Care Trust (PCT) agreed to continue treating wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with the drug Avastin, despite the fact it is not licensed for such use by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
Avastin treatment for some of the most urgent cases started earlier this year and will now continue as further advice on its use has been delayed until March.
A QEH spokesman said: "We welcome this decision by Norfolk PCT. In fact we have always been in favour of using Avastin and, as a result of the PCT's decision, we will be able to save the sight of more patients. This is really good news."
The PCT decided to use the drug as patients were facing the prospect of paying thousands of pounds of their own money to save their sight by receiving private treatment.
AMD usually occurs in people over the age of 50 and is an eye condition characterised by irreversible damage to the central part of the retina (macula) resulting in a progressive loss of vision.
Around 70 per cent of patients experience severe vision loss within two years, and it accounts for 50 per cent of those registered as blind or partially-sighted in the UK.
Avastin is a licensed drug for the treatment of bowel cancer but has been used with some success in AMD despite recommendations from NICE that another drug, Lucentis, should be used to treat the condition.
On agreeing the use of Avastin the PCT said it would look at the service again once guidance from NICE becomes available.
A report which went before PCT board members revealed treatment with Lucentis costs around 10,000 per person each year, but Avastin would be approximately half the figure.
Director of public health Dr John Battersby said: "The use of Avastin for the treatment of AMD is not licensed, nor is it proposed to be licensed for the treatment of AMD.
"However, the PCT will commission the use of both Lucentis and Avastin to treat patients to be able to meet a broader range of patients.
"There are risks identified by using an unlicensed drug but these are heavily outweighed by the benefits. All patients will be assessed against a strict clinical criteria."
The PCT board has also agreed to take a detailed look at the legal implications the organisation could be faced with.
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Weather for Kings Lynn
Monday 06 September 2010
Today
Sunny spells
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