Drug approval ‘is fantastic news’

10:51am Tuesday 10th June 2008

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HEALTH trusts are now obliged to fund medication for patients with a severe form of spinal arthritis.

Mother-of-two Gillian Eames, of Hillside Road, Shortlands, who has had ankylosing spondylitis for more than 20 years, says the announcement is a breakthrough for sufferers.

The condition is a chronic, painful and degenerative inflammatory arthritis which affects the spine, causing eventual fusion of the joints.

The use of etanercept and adalimumab for treatment of the disease has been approved by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), which advises the NHS on how to spend to get the best result for patients.

Mrs Eames, 55, said: "This is fantastic news for ankylosing spondylitis patients.

"We are human beings. If there's medication out there which can help people lead a normal life and keep you in work, why should it be put down to cost?"

The Bromley Primary Care Trust (PCT) did not previously fund the drugs but under the new guidelines will be required to do so within three months.

To receive the medication, patients have to have had active spinal disease assessed on two separate occasions 12 weeks apart and must also have unsuccessfully tried at least two non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Mrs Eames says her etanercept medication has changed her life.

She said: "It's not a cure, but it helps me to live an everyday life with the disability caused by this disease."

Mrs Eames took part in a drug trial in 2002 where she was treated with etanercept.

When it ended in July last year, the primary care trust refused to continue funding the drug, which costs around £9,000 a year.

Mrs Eames then successfully appealed against the decision and received funding on an individual basis.

She said: "This guidance now means no patient should go through the trauma of fighting for these treatments again.

"It really gives patients such as me hope of managing this painful and debilitating condition."

A spokesman for the trust said: "Bromley PCT welcomes the outcome of the NICE technology appraisal regarding the use of adalimumab and etanercept, to treat patients with ankylosing spondylitis, and will consider any applications for funding in line with this NICE guidance."

Mrs Eames has launched the Coalition of Ankylosing Spondylitis Patients, which campaigns on behalf of fellow sufferers.

For more information, visit the website thecasp.net