Dementia drugs "divert funds from quality care"
Posted on: Friday, 1 September 2006, 08:31 CDT
LONDON (Reuters) - Memory clinics and drugs to slow the progress of symptoms of Alzheimer's disease are diverting resources in Britain's state-funded health services from high quality integrated care, doctors said on Friday.
The treatments known as cholinesterase inhibitors have been recommended by the country's cost-effectiveness watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), for patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease since 2001.
But psychiatrist Anthony Pelosi of the Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride, Scotland and his colleagues said memory clinics that were set up to prescribe and monitor the medicines have distorted clinical priorities.
"These clinics are diverting resources from high quality integrated care," Pelosi said in a report in The British Medical Journal.
He added that the drugs, which cost about 1,000 pounds ($1,907) per patient per year, have turned out to be of marginal benefit from statistical, clinical and public health perspectives.
Although memory clinics recruited multidisciplinary staff, Pelosi and his colleagues said there is a shortage of mental health professionals in Britain and the clinics also do not offer care in the community for their patients as their illness progresses.
Patient groups and care organizations hailed the 2001 decision by NICE which stressed that further research would be needed and that the recommendation would be reviewed in several years.
In March 2005, NICE recommended that doctors stop giving the drugs to new patients because they were not cost effective. The Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry condemned the decision, which NICE said was provisional and subject to consultations.
An estimated 12 million people worldwide suffer from Alzheimer's which is the leading cause of dementia in the elderly.
Pfizer Inc and Eisai Co's Aricept; Novartis AG's Exelon; and Reminyl, made by Johnson & Johnson and distributed in Britain by Shire Pharmaceuticals (SHP.L> Group Plc are leading cholinesterase inhibitors.
"Whatever the final outcome of NICE's deliberations, the human and financial resources that have become tied up in clinics organised around prescription of cholinesterase inhibitors must be diverted to old age psychiatry teams and their social care counterparts," Pelosi added.
Source: REUTERS
Related Articles
- Health Care Leaders Focus on Patient-Centered Care
- Treatment of First Patient in Phase I Clinical Trial of Bionomics' Anti-Cancer Drug BNC105
- Medical Consultants Network (MCN) Awarded Contract With Washington State Department of Health to Provide Clinical Expertise for Health Professions Discipline
- Clinical Care Options Launches Online HIV Drug-Drug Interaction Tool and Downloadable Application for Mobile Devices
- Clinical Pharmacists Can Positively Contribute to Clinical Outcomes for HIV-Infected Patients
- Long Island Clinic Fosters Hope for AIDS Patients
- Palatin Technologies and King Pharmaceuticals Complete Enrollment in Two Phase IIb Clinical Trials Evaluating Bremelanotide in Patients With Erectile Dysfunction
- Tanox Reports Positive Results From Phase 2 Clinical Trial of TNX-355, an Entry Inhibitor to Treat HIV
- Targeted Genetics Announces Preliminary Results of Phase I Clinical Trial of tgAAC94 in Patients With Inflammatory Arthritis
- New Data Show Cymbalta Improved Physical, Social and Emotional Functioning and Overall Health of Patients With Painful Diabetic Neuropathy
 |
 |
User Comments (0)
RSS Feeds