Judge gives go ahead for Alzheimer’s challenge

By Tony Watts - Editor - 26/03/2007

The Alzheimer's Society has been given the go ahead to challenge the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE) controversial ruling on Alzheimer's drug treatments in the High Court.

NICE ruled, in November last year, that people newly diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer's disease should be denied access to effective drug treatments on the NHS, that cost just £2.50 a day. A High Court judge has agreed there are grounds to challenge this decision in the first ever judicial review of the Institute.

Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer's Society, says: “Today is an important step forward in our fight for the rights of people with Alzheimer's disease and their carers who have been forgotten in this decision. We are delighted that the judge has recognised the importance of hearing their voices in court. Denying people in the early stages of this debilitating disease access to drug treatments is cruel and unethical. Our legal team will also demonstrate that the decision is fundamentally flawed.'

The Alzheimer's Society has been granted permission to act as an interested party in this judicial review. The main claimants are the drug manufacturers Eisai and Pfizer. Last month, the Alzheimer's Society launched an appeal to fund its independent role in the High Court challenge. In a welcome move, the judge also recognised the importance of the Alzheimer's Society's involvement by awarding the charity a degree of cost protection to ensure it can take a full part in the legal challenge.

On Friday (23 March), in a separate development, the Alzheimer's Society submitted evidence to the Health Select Committee's inquiry into the remit of NICE and why its decisions are being increasingly challenged.

Diana Barnes, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease six years ago so escaped NICE's cost cutting exercise, says: 'It's good news that NICE will be challenged in the High Court. I have been on the drug treatments for five years and I know that these drugs work best in the early stages. No one can imagine what it is like to have Alzheimer's disease. Every day I have to battle against the symptoms, so it is difficult to fight decisions like this. It is vital that the Alzheimer's Society is able to represent my experiences, and the experiences of people like me, in court.”