Court Date Set For Mental Health Drugs Trial

The case of whether drugs used to treat mental health problems like Alzheimer’s disease should be made available on the NHS will be heard in court on June 25th. Bringing the case against the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) is the Alzheimer’s Society.

The Alzheimer’s Society’s chief executive, Neil Hunt, said that he looked forward to the challenge ahead.”Today brings us a step closer in our fight for justice for people with Alzheimer’s disease. 100,000 people will develop dementia this year alone; yet Nice has ignored the impact its decision will have on them and their families’ lives.

He continued: “Nice’s process in this case was fatally flawed and we look forward to challenging it in court.”Aricept, Exelon, Reminyl and Ebixa have all been proven to be effective treatment for sufferers of Alzheimer’s disease at all stages of development, but Nice ruled last year that the £2.50 per day cost was too much to bear and declared that only those with moderate to severe cases of the illness could benefit from free treatment.”

The Alzheimer’s Society is among a group of campaigners calling for the drugs to be made available to those with the beginning signs of Alzheimer’s as well as for those where the illness has taken hold in order to provide a better quality of life for all sufferers.