NICE Cancer Drug Restrictions Block Care To Patients, Research Shows

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has fallen under intense scrutiny, after new research found that it has denied most potential new cancer medicines or has imposed strict restrictions on them, limiting access to patients who need them.

The study, conducted by Context Matters and sponsored by the Pharmaceutical Research and manufacturers of America (PhRMA),  showed that “use of centralized cost-effectiveness standards by NICE and similar appraisals in other countries limit patients’ access to new cancer treatments, which evolve rapidly and are increasingly personalized.” 

According to Context Matters’ research, NICE:

• Rejected all six cancer medicines that it reviewed in 2013
• Didn’t approve any of the 11 potential new cancer treatments for use by the National Health System (NHS)
• Designated some kind of access restriction to upwards of 80 percent of reviewed cancer drugs

The research also found that cancer treatments were three times more likely to reject cancer medicines than non-oncology medicines – turning away nearly 60 percent of cancer treatments as compared to only 16 percent of other medicines.

 “These findings underscore the challenges created by coverage and payment policies that rely on centralized, one-size-fits-all value assessments,” John J. Castellani, President and CEO, PhRMA, said “While it’s important to ensure health care decisions are grounded in the best available evidence, it is also essential to ensure it is not misapplied in ways that deny patients’ access to valuable treatment advances. We need approaches that put the patient at the center of health care decision making and support patients and physicians in choosing the treatment options that best meet the individual’s needs.”

The five-year relative survival rates for cervical, breast and colorectal cancer in the U.S.  (67 percent, 90 percent, and 65 percent respectively) are much higher than they are in the U.K. (59 percent, 78 percent, and 51 percent, respectively).

While these statistics indicate a serious need for viable treatments, NICE is also concerned about the cost of these potential treatments. According to a Mail Online article dated September, 2013, NICE argues that the resources would be better spent on other treatments rather than on cancer drugs that may only extend a patient’s life for a few weeks or months.  

However patient advocates disagree with the organization’s tactics and want the health and well-being of cancer patients put first.  They feel people “are being denied the most effective drugs even though many are invented in Britain, while NHS doctors miss out on the experience of working with breakthrough treatments.”

In 2011, UK Prime Minister David Cameron enacted a Cancer Drugs fund with a £200million annual budget intended to help fund treatments denied to NHS patients. Since then, nearly 34 thousand people have received life-saving or extending treatments they otherwise could have missed.