Free iPods for Drug Addicts ; Watchdog That Snubs Cancer Patients Plans Prizes to Junkies Who Try to Quit

By FIONA MACRAE

DRUG addicts who kick their habit are to be rewarded with iPods, televisions and shopping vouchers on the NHS under guidelines unveiled yesterday by the Government’s health service rationing watchdog.

While cancer and Alzheimer’s patients are denied life-prolonging treatments, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence revealed a plan to offer junkies prizes for staying clean.

NICE, which three months ago ruled Alzheimer’s drugs costing just Pounds 2.50 a day too expensive to provide on the NHS, believes such incentives would be cost effective. All would be paid for by the taxpayer, but critics described the move as ‘lunacy’.

Cancer drugs turned down by NICE in recent months include Velcade, which can extend the lives of bone cancer patients by up to seven years.

Cost was also behind the decision to deny elderly people in the early stages of Alzheimer’s the life-transforming drugs Aricept, Exelon and Reminyl.

Under the drug addict scheme, an estimated 50,000 could be rewarded for trying to quit, receiving vouchers and prizes for providing drug-free urine samples, with the size of the reward increasing with the amount of time spent drug-free.

Drug workers described the proposals as ‘ridiculous’ and warned that it could lead to addicts trading vouchers and prizes to feed their habit. There are also fears that addicts could easily cheat on the urine tests.

David Raynes, of the National Drug Prevention Alliance, said: ‘Some of this seems ridiculous.

Giving people iPods is nonsense.

It seems to be on the lunatic fringe of drug thinking.

‘Drug addicts are wily people and are capable of deceiving the people who are carrying out the tests. There is an air of desperation about this, but we are not looking at the fundamental cause.

‘There is a lot of talk about treatment but we have to stop people getting into drugs in the first place.’ Michael Summers, of the Patients’ Association, said: ‘Unless there are very stringent safeguards, vouchers could be sold by addicts to make money to feed their habit.’ Mike Trace, of the Rehabilitation of Addicted Prisoners Trust, also questioned the scheme despite having backed the legalisation of drugs in the past.

He told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: ‘If you just rely on rewards for abstinence and you’re not treating people’s complex problems, you are not going to change the behaviour.’ LibDem health spokesman Sandra Gidley said: ‘Incentives must go hand-in-hand with ready access to clinical services.

‘A free Big Mac is no substitute for sessions with a psychologist.’ However, NICE believes the proposals are a logical and costeffective way to tackle drug abuse. It is estimated that for every pound spent on treating drug addicts, Pounds 9.50 is saved on health and crime costs.

Stephen Pilling, a consultant clinical psychologist who helped NICE draw up its draft guidance, said pilot studies carried out in the U.S. had shown that even a small reward can have an effect on an addict’s desire to quit. Mr Pilling, of University College London, added: ‘I don’t think it is bribery I think it’s an effective treatment that brings real benefit. We’re convinced it’s a proper way to deal with people.’ The Department of Health said the draft guidance on managing drug misuse contains ‘ potentially important suggestions that warrant further discussion’.

The document, which has gone out to consultation before being finalised this summer, also includes guidance on supporting relatives and carers and referring addicts to self-help groups.

It adds that while addicts could be given incentives such as prize draw tickets and cash bonuses, the most likely rewards would be vouchers and ‘privileges’ such as reserved parking spaces.

Alzheimer’s patient Keith Turner, 68, said: ‘I believe in justice all round.

If incentives are cost-effective, fine, but let’s also make treatments available for people with cancer, heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s.’

f.macrae@dailymail.co.uk

DRUGS to fall foul of NICE in recent months include:

VELCADE: turned down in October but approved in Scotland, Velcade costs between Pounds 9,000 and Pounds 18,000 and can extend the lives of bone cancer patients by up to seven years.

GLIADEL: implants can give brain tumour sufferers several extra months of life. Treatment, which is available on prescription in Scotland costs Pounds 5,200 a course.

ALIMTA: Rejected in April but available in Scotland, it can extend the life of suffers of mesothelioma, a rare lung cancer, by four months. It costs Pounds 10,000 a course.

ARICEPT, REMINYL AND EXELON: Used to treat Alzheimer’s, they can delay the progress of memory loss, and personality changes. Despite costing just Pounds 2.50 a day, they are no longer available to new patients in the early stages of the illness.

HERCEPTIN: Hailed as ‘the biggest development in breast cancer for 25 years’, Herceptin, which costs Pounds 24,000 for a 12-month course, was only approved last June. Delays saw patients take their case to the High Court.

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