Patients are still not receiving NICE approved drugs, report says

Some NHS organisations are still rationing some drugs despite the fact that they have been approved by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) as being cost effective, according to the findings of a new report. The report published today by the Health and Social Care Information Centre found that medicines in six treatment areas were prescribed at rates lower than would have been expected from disease prevalence.1 All have been backed by NICE as good value for money. The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) said that the findings showed that the UK was “consistently lagging behind international counterparts on the uptake and access of medicines.” Stephen …