The Alzheimer's Society is committed to defeating dementia

.
Alzheimer's Donation
Donate Online Now
.

The Alzheimer's Society has announced that it will not appeal the recent high court judgment on access to Alzheimer's drugs. Last month, a high court judge, Mrs Justice Dobbs, ruled that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE) guidance on prescribing drugs to people with Alzheimer's disease on the NHS breached disability and race discrimination law. The public body was ordered to make changes to its guidance. However, the court did not rule in favour of the charity's other two legal arguments on NICE's evaluation of the benefit of drugs to carers and the costs of full time care. The judgment means that people in the early states of Alzheimer's drugs will continue to be denied access to effective treatment on the NHS because of cost.

Making the announcement today, Alzheimer's Society chief executive Neil Hunt pledged the campaign would continue. He said, ''The Alzheimer's Society has decided not to appeal the judicial review on access to Alzheimer's drugs. We hope the NICE will also accept the Court's ruling on discrimination and further argument on that issue will be unnecessary. We still believe that it makes no clinical, monetary or moral sense to deny people in the early stages of Alzheimer's access to drugs but we have no plans to pursue our legal arguments on these issues further in the courts. Instead, we look to the government, in its review of NICE, to eradicate the glaring flaws in NICE's process that have lead to this unacceptable position.

'Caring for a person with dementia is an exhausting and difficult job, and unpaid carers save the UK £6 billion every year. It is only right that the impact treatment can have on a carer's quality of life as well as that of the person with dementia is properly calculated. 'In March 2005, NICE recommended that no one with Alzheimer's should be offered drugs on the NHS for a cost of just £2.50 a day. Thanks to the passionate efforts of our dedicated campaigners thousands more people now have access to treatment. The Alzheimer's Society is committed to defeating dementia, a devastating condition that robs people of their lives. We will continue to campaign on this issue.' http://www.medicalnewstoday.com

Probiotics may put skids on infant diarrhoea
Supplements of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG probiotic bacteria may provide added protection against gastro-intestinal infection and diarrhoea in infants, suggests a study.

posted YVN