Seven days in medicine: 28 December 2016 to 3 January 2017
BMJ 2017; 356 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j9 (Published 05 January 2017) Cite this as: BMJ 2017;356:j9
NICE news
NHS will no longer fund breast cancer drug
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said in draft guidance that it cannot recommend the advanced breast cancer drug trastuzumab emtansine (Kadcyla) for routine NHS use in England and Wales because it is too expensive. Kadcyla, currently funded through the Cancer Drugs Fund, has been shown to extend life by as much as nine months but costs around £90 000 (€106 000; $110 500) a patient. The patient access scheme offered by the manufacturer, Roche, would have involved the NHS paying the list price for the first 14 months, after which Roche would rebate the cost of any subsequent treatment.
Refer heavy drinkers for scans
GPs and community health services should refer people who drink heavily—including men who drink more than 22 pints of beer and women who drink more than 3.5 bottles of wine a week—for scans to detect liver disease early, NICE recommended in a draft quality standard. People with hepatitis B or C, alcohol related liver disease, or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with advanced liver fibrosis should also be offered non-invasive tests for cirrhosis, treatment, and support. The final standard is due in June 2017. (Full story doi:10.1136/bmj.i6769)
Leucotriene receptor antagonists can save money
Leucotriene receptor antagonist tablets should be offered in addition to an inhaled corticosteroid before a combination inhaler in patients with poorly controlled asthma, draft guidance from …
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