Government Cancer Drugs Fund in doubt

The government's proposed Cancer Drugs Fund could be in jeopardy, meaning private medical cover may be the only way for many to access medication not available on the NHS.

Ministers had pledged to set aside a fund of £200 million to help people buy cancer drugs not approved by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), which regulates what treatments the NHS can buy for its patients based on cost-effectiveness.

However, the Department of Health has now admitted the £200 million figure is only "aspirational", the Daily Mail reports.

Furthermore, according to the news provider, the majority of the fund could be wiped out by claims for Avastin, the bowel cancer drug recently rejected by NICE.

It estimates that, with 6,500 people with advanced bowel cancer every year, at a cost of £20,800 per patient, claims for Avastin could cost the fund £135 million.

"Our figures show that, without the £200million of funding, thousands of cancer patients will be denied the treatment their clinicians feel they need," commented The Rarer Cancer Foundation chief executive Andrew Wilson.

According to Bowel Cancer UK, UK patients with advanced bowel cancer survive for an average of 19 months, compared to up to 27 months for patients in countries that use Avastin.

Despite pledges by David Cameron to keep waiting times low, newly released figures indicate that the number of people waiting more than six weeks for key NHS tests has quadrupled in one year*. In June 2010...

GPs should not refer women for labiaplasty on the NHS who are in good health but concerned about the appearance of their genitalia, experts say. Specialists at a Central London hospital say they have received...

Sufferers of chronic pain may want to seek out private medical cover in order to avoid lengthy waits for effective treatment. According to a new study sponsored by drug company Pfizer, Britain's eight...

The NHS regulator the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has confirmed it is not approving funding for cancer drug Avastin, something that could lead to more people taking out ...

A greater number of people may be considering taking out private medical cover following the rejection of a drug to treat kidney cancer by the NHS regulator. The National Institute of Health and Clinical...