Herceptin to be available on NHS

Women in the early stages of breast cancer should be able to be prescribed Herceptin, says the NHS’s drug watchdog.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has released the guidance two weeks after the drug was awarded a European licence.

Herceptin has been in the headlines frequently recently as high profile court cases have been brought against the NHS by cancer sufferers and campaigners upset to be denied the drug due to cost.

The final guidance outlining the use of the drug will be published in July, after which local health managers will have three months to implement it. Failure to offer eligible women Herceptin will result in legal proceedings.

It is thought that over 5,000 women in the UK would be suitable for the drug, at a cost of around £100m a year to the NHS.

Herceptin has been heralded as the biggest breast cancer breakthrough in ten years. The government’s national cancer director, Professor Mike Richards is adamant that the cost of financing the drug will not lead to cutbacks elsewhere:

“The health service is getting more money each year. This is a major step forward.

It is good news for women because it may mean more actually get cured of their breast cancer. Because of that it is an absolutely appropriate use of the new funds that are going into the health service.”