Published 25 November 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a2691
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a2691

Letters

Guidance on osteoporosis

NOGG guideline should be implemented

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

During the protracted development of guidance on osteoporosis from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE),1 the appraisal committee has disregarded input from public and professional bodies alike. When the guidance is at odds with clinical judgment and patients’ best interests, requiring that patients identified at risk have to get worse before being eligible for alternative treatments, implementation is not feasible. We therefore join the National Osteoporosis Society in calling for a fresh appraisal to incorporate new evidence and developments in the field.2

The vacuum created by NICE and the availability of the FRAX (fracture risk assessment) tool to provide an individual’s absolute risk of fracture in the next 10 years3 has resulted in the development of guidance by the National Osteoporosis Guideline Group (NOGG).4 As well as considering postmenopausal women, the NOGG guideline addresses fracture risk in younger women, men, and patients taking glucocorticoids—all important cases excluded . . . [Full text of this article]

Jon H Tobias, president elect, Bone Research Society1, Adam Bajkowski, president2, Pamela Holmes, chief executive officer3, Anthony Nunn, chair4, Diana Moran, president5, Judy Stenmark, chair6, Clare Marx, president7, John Wass, chair8, Roy Jones, director9

1 Academic Rheumatology, Avon Orthopaedic Centre, Southmead Hospital, Bristol BS10 5NB, 2 Primary Care Rheumatology Society, 3 Help the Aged, 4 Osteoporosis 2000, 5 Osteoporosis Dorset, 6 Committee of National Societies, International Osteoporosis Foundation, 7 British Orthopaedic Association, 8 Society for Endocrinology, 9 Research Institute for the Care of Older People

Jon.Tobias@bristol.ac.uk


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Rapid Responses:

Read all Rapid Responses

No Conflict of Interest?
Jeremy Fletcher
bmj.com, 4 Dec 2008 [Full text]
Re: No Conflict of Interest?
Peter J Selley
bmj.com, 8 Dec 2008 [Full text]
Author's reply
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Clinical Guidelines - Always Declare Competing Interests
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