'I can see no logic to NICE's decision that patients already prescribed
beta interferon can have the drug but new patients cannot - either the drug is effective or it is not.'
Multiple sclerosis sufferer Jason Lee Powell, 33, from Whitland, was refused
beta interferon because of the cost implications.
Beta interferon is not suitable for all MS sufferers but can reduce the frequency of relapses in the intermittent form of the condition.
Beta interferon is currently under review by the Government's medicine rationing body, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), set up to end the postcode lottery of treatment in the NHS.
But the decision will now be delayed because health chiefs in England - who had previously labelled
beta interferon too expensive - are on the verge of a U-turn over its use.
Now the National Institute for Clinical Excellence has ruled against making
beta interferon available on the NHS, in a move which will come as a massive blow to sufferers.
There is already "post-code prescribing", the denial of expensive drugs like
Beta Interferon to MS sufferers and patients who are written off as DNR (Do Not Resuscitate).
"We're proud of our contributions to the Copaxone clinical trial and to the early research on interferons that contributed to
beta interferon therapies.
A GOVERNMENT U-turn on the anti-MS drug
beta interferon may have come too late for father-of-three Ian Wilding.
THE recommendation by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) that the NHS stop prescribing
Beta Interferon to multiple sclerosis victims is outrageous.
Guest speaker Nigel Ellis, director of branch and regional support for the society, spoke about the problems surrounding the availability of the drug
beta interferon which can help some people with MS.
Denise Newton describes
beta interferon as the 'gift of time' which has halted the progress of the devastating illness.