April 14, 2022 News by Marisa Wexler, MS Vumerity Added to NHS of England for People With Active RRMS The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has added oralĀ Vumerity (diroximel fumarate), approved to treatĀ relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosisĀ (RRMS) in the U.K., to the list of medications available through the public health program for England. Because the therapy has been recommended through a fast track appraisal process, Vumerity…
December 22, 2021 News by Marta Figueiredo, PhD 3 New COVID-19 Treatments Now Available to MS Patients in UK People with multiple sclerosis (MS) living in the U.K. are now eligible to receive one of three new treatments for COVID-19 that are meant to prevent serious disease in at-risk populations who tested positive for the virus. First available under this plan were Regeneron and Rocheās antibody-based therapy…
May 24, 2021 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News That Caught My Eye Last Week: Zeposia, Music and Gait, Video Therapeutics, Treatment Perceptions NICE Again Says No to Adding Zeposia to Health System for England and Wales Reading this news, I’m again reminded of the major difference between the healthcare system in the U.S. and those in most of the rest of the world. While the systems outside the U.S. provide most…
May 17, 2021 News by Patricia Inacio, PhD NICE Again Says No to Adding Zeposia to Health System for England and Wales The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has maintained its initial draft recommendation and will not recommend that Zeposia (ozanimod) be added to the National Health Service (NHS) of England and Wales. This final decision on the cost effectiveness of the oral therapy means Zeposia will…
April 2, 2021 Columns by John Connor To Have a Persistent UTI or Not? That Is the Question If you read last week’s column, you’ll know I’ve just been through hell ā which is a pretty big statement for an atheist. Of course, if there is a hell, I’ll be going straight down. To save you the bother of reading it, here’s a prĆ©cis: A foot wound…
January 25, 2021 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD NICE Opposes Zeposia Being Added to RRMS Therapies in UK’s Health Service The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) does not recommend Zeposia (ozanimod) be available at low or no cost through the National Health Service (NHS) to treat adults with active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS)Ā living in England and Wales. In a recentĀ draft recommendation, NICE stated thatĀ …
October 23, 2020 Columns by Ed Tobias Diagnosing MS During a Pandemic: UK vs. US Editor’s note: Previously, this piece stated that Dr. Ide Smets theorized a transition to telemedicine as the standard of care could cause decreased life expectancy in the U.K. of up to 30 years. The piece has been corrected to state that such a change could result in a decreased life…
July 23, 2020 News by Joana Carvalho, PhD UK Health Services Failing MS Patient Needs Under Pandemic, Survey Finds A vast majority ā 7 out of every 10 ā healthcare professionals working with multiple sclerosis (MS) patients across the U.K. believe health services are failing to meet their needs throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an online survey conducted by theĀ MS SocietyĀ and the MS…
June 12, 2020 Columns by John Connor So, Where Do I Start? Ah, it’s not the blank page that all writers fear that I’m worried about. Those days have long left me. Now it’s applying the discipline to stop! When I first started with a professional writing commission, I sat in the office all day with that fear freezing me. (Those were…
April 16, 2020 News by Mary Chapman Fampyra, Aid for Walking, Favored for Inclusion in NHS Scotland After being rejected twice in the last four years, Fampyra (fampridine; marketed as Ampyra in the U.S.) is now being recommended by the Scottish Medicines ConsortiumĀ (SMC) for use in the country’sĀ National Health System (NHS) to treat walking disabilities in adults withĀ multiple sclerosis (MS). Scotland…
November 13, 2019 News by Mary Chapman Sativex, Cannabis Extract for MS Spasticity, Now Available to Select Patients in England The cannabis sativa plant extract SativexĀ is a cost-effective therapy for spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS) and can be offered to patients in England needing it on at least a monthlong trial basis, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said in issuing a final…
October 14, 2019 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Decades of Night Work Tied to Nearly 3 Times Higher MS Risk, Studies in Nurses Suggest Occasional, or rotating, night shift work, even if done over a decade, does not seem to be directly linked to a higher risk of multiple sclerosis. But working nights for more than 20 years ā and likely beginning such shifts early in a career ā carries an almost three…
November 5, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias MS News that Caught My Eye Last Week: Ocrevus in the UK, Environmental Triggers, PPMS Research NICE Postpones Final Opinion on Adding Ocrevus to Public Health System for PPMS Patients in UK This last-minute reprieve from the agency that dictates which medications may be prescribed for patients of the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS) is welcome news. Last summer, the National Institute for…
October 29, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Mavenclad Named ‘Rapid Uptake Product’ in UK with Goal of Speeding Its Availability in NHS Mavenclad (cladribine tablets, 10 mg) was one of the seven medicinal and medical technology products selected by the Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) as a “rapid uptake product” ā a U.K. recognition that aims to bring life-changing technologies into the country’s National Health System (NHS), and to patients,…
September 12, 2018 News by Diogo Pinto NICE Rules Against Bringing Ocrevus into NHS for Primary Progressive Patients in UK The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, better known as NICE, issued a final decision against includingĀ Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) as a treatment for primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) in the subsidized public health system for England and Wales. The agency’s “final appraisal,” which mirrors its draft…
July 13, 2018 Columns by John Connor Steering My Own Boat and Making a Splash The U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS) turned 70 last week. In England, yes, we are mourning our semi-final defeat by Croatia in the World Cup, but to most of us, the NHS is the U.K.’s crowning glory. There are innumerable problems and proposed solutions involving the institution, yet…
July 9, 2018 News by Jose Marques Lopes, PhD NICE Agrees to Add Ocrevus to NHS for RRMS Patients in England and Wales, But Scotland Will Not Relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients with active disease may now be treated with Ocrevus (ocrelizumab, developed byĀ Genentech) within the National Health Service (NHS) ā the subsidized public health system that covers England and Wales. But those in Scotland will not. The National Institute for Health and…
July 3, 2018 News by Vijaya Iyer, PhD NICE Opposes Ocrevus as PPMS Treatment in UK’s Public-funded Health System The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, known as NICE, has decided against recommending thatĀ Ocrevus be part of public-funded treatments for adults withĀ primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). The National Health Service (NHS) is the subsidized, publicly funded healthcare system for England, with similar structures…
May 29, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Pressure in the UK Helps Lower MS Therapy Costs. But What About the US? In the United States, the government can do very little to control the costs of our expensive MS medications. In the United Kingdom, it’s a different story. The U.K. has an organization called the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, better known as NICE. NICE provides healthcare…
March 23, 2018 Columns by John Connor Keep Taking the Steroids! Six months ago, I was a reasonably svelte 14 and a half stone. I’m not sure how I managed it, but it was certainly before pitting edemaĀ wrapped itself around my shins and calves like bulbous sacks of wineskins. I managed to get on the scales a while…
February 2, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc MS Trust Seeking PPMS Patients’ Views on Ocrevus as It Tries to Obtain British Coverage Britain’sĀ Multiple Sclerosis TrustĀ is asking patients to help them getĀ the National Health ServiceĀ to cover Ocrevus (ocrelizumab) as a treatment forĀ primary progressive multiple sclerosis, or PPMS. The key step is trying to persuade the National Institute for Health and Care ExcellenceĀ to recommend that the health service…
January 26, 2018 Columns by John Connor The Antibiotic Time Loop My arms are heavy. Strong antibiotics have held off a urinary tract infection (UTI)Ā for the last eight weeks ā evolution isn’t on my side. In fact, I’m distinctly beginning to feel like the British Expeditionary Force in Dunkirk in May 1940. Surrounded, with my only hope over the…
January 23, 2018 Columns by Ed Tobias Who Are You to Tell Me What MS Therapy I Need? I’m used to seeing insurance companies here in the United States make decisions about MS therapies, including refusing to pay for certain treatments unless other, less expensive ones are tried first. These, of course, are decisions that should be made between patients and their doctors, not by insurers.
January 10, 2018 News by Alice MelĆ£o, MSc Extavia Is the Only Therapy for MS with Relapses That Britain Should Cover, Board Says A British board that recommends what treatments the National Health ServiceĀ should cover has advised the system to use onlyĀ Extavia (interferon beta 1b) as a treatment for MS patients who continue to have relapses. Cost was at the heart of the National Institute for Health and Care…
December 22, 2017 News by Catarina Silva Britain’s National Health Service Likely to Cover the Multiple Sclerosis Therapy Extavia Britain’sĀ National Health ServiceĀ should cover the multiple sclerosis therapy Extavia, the National Institute for Health and Care ExcellenceĀ (NICE) has recommended. The health service usually follows the institute’s recommendations. So NICE’s endorsement means there is a good chance the health service will begin covering the Extavia prescriptions that…
March 17, 2017 News by Patricia Silva, PhD In Reversal, NICE Recommends Relapsing MS Treatment Zinbryta for England and Wales The United Kingdom’sĀ National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has cleared its initial doubts and now recommendsĀ Zinbryta (daclizumab)Ā to treatĀ relapsing multiple sclerosis (MS) in England and Wales. NICE had initially rejectedĀ Zinbryta after a first stage of the drugās review process, due to some issues linked to…
March 16, 2017 Columns by admin After Long Wait, Zinbryta Gains Approval in Areas of the UK News that daclizumab, brand name Zinbryta, has been given the go-aheadĀ to be available through the U.K.ās National Health Service (NHS) for treating relapsing MS, at least in part of the country, is good news. But why has the decision taken…
September 7, 2016 Columns by admin James Received HSCT for Free, as He Lives in the UK Virtually all the talk about availability of HSCT1 as an MS treatment includes the need to travel long distances to other countries, but U.K. residents can receive the treatment in London, avoiding the journey overseas.Ā Whatās more, it is provided through the countryās social National Health Service (NHS) so, like…
November 18, 2015 News by Margarida Azevedo, MSc Multiple Sclerosis Report Highlights High Cost of Care in UK A new report, written jointly by the NHiS Commissioning Excellence and the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Trust, highlights the healthcare costs of emergency hospitalization of MS patients in the United Kingdom and points to more cost-effective and better ways toĀ care for this patient population. The executive summary and full report are…
November 12, 2015 News by Charles Moore Vitally Important UK MS Services Face Critical Challenges According to Study A major new report published by the U.K. MS Trust has determined that the country’s National Health Services (NHS) programs relied on by people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) are facing increasing pressures that could lead to inequities in care. Evidence from the Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire based MS Trust’s…