NICE faces legal challenge over restriction on dementia drugs

doi:10.1136/bmj.39041.497315.DB

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Clare Dyer, legal correspondent

¹BMJ

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the body that decides what treatments are supplied on the NHS in England and Wales, is facing a High Court challenge to its decision to restrict the use of drugs for Alzheimer's disease.

NICE rejected an appeal by drug companies in October over its guidance stating that patients with early or late stage Alzheimer's disease should not have access to donepezil (Aricept), galantamine (Reminyl), or rivastigmine (Exelon) (BMJ 2006;333:165).

The US drug company Pfizer and a Japanese biotechnology company, Eisai, …