BSR expresses disappointment over decision to approve biologics for severe RA only

The British Society for Rheumatology released a statement expressing disappointment on the rejection of its appeal to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to allow the payment of biologic medications to treat moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, rather than only severe disease activity.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, a part of the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom, issued its final appraisal document on biologic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs following an appeal filed by the British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) and the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS).

“The clinical community remains frustrated that in this country we still fall behind other comparable European countries in the modern treatment of rheumatoid arthritis despite evidence to support prescribing of biologic drugs for those with so-called ‘moderate disease.’ These patients still develop joint damage and disability that in many cases can be prevented by biologic therapies,” Simon Bowman, BSc, MBBS, PhD, FRCP, president of BSR, said in a press release. “To exclude these patients from access to these drugs is a false economy that has wider impacts on the individuals, their employers, the entire NHS system and has a direct cost to the exchequer.”

“The impact on patients’ lives of this negative outcome is significant,” Ailsa Bosworth, MBE, chief executive of the NRAS, said in the release. “It is particularly disappointing given that we and the BSR were not asking for all patients in the moderate [to] severe group to be given access, but only those with the biomarkers which indicate poorer prognosis and outcomes. These patients will cost the NHS and society a lot more over time and it is short-sighted to refuse the most effective potential treatment to those most in need.”

Reference: www.rheumatology.org.uk.