MANY of your readers will have heard about the proposal from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, the Government's advisory body on health treatments, that it is proposed to stop prescribing the new beta interferon drugs for people with MS.
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NICE does not argue with the scientific evidence that these drugs work by cutting the number of attacks that people with MS suffer, but it says that this is not enough to justify the cost.
True, the drugs are expensive but so is MS and NICE does not recognise this. Most of the cost of MS attacks do not fall on the NHS but on local social services and housing, on employers, social security and on the families of those affected.
If your readers feel strongly about this too they can help by writing to tell the Secretary of State for Health, Alan Milburn, at Richmond House, Whitehall, London SW1A 2NS.
Mrs Jan Marks
Whinacre, Chub Tor, Yelverton