The second class nature of the NHS is revealed in many ways but not often is the exposure so clear as it is with the refusal of the NICE to permit the use of sorafenib.

Every other major country in the EU makes the drug available on the state's healtchare or insurance system. That last sentence is not mine, it was written by Professor Karol Sikora, the well-known cancer specialist and former chief of the World Health Organisation Cancer Programme. He went on:

Indeed, in France, the drug has been given to patients ever since it first came on the market in 2006.

That is why the usage in France is 13 times higher than it is here. Meanwhile, in Britain, it was largely confined to private patients while the NHS waited for Nice's verdict.

He also says, "The costs of sorafenib are not exorbitant, but the effectiveness is striking." Sorafenib is for liver cancer. It extends life for an average of three months. The range of life extension is between nothing and three years.

Karol Sikora's full article is here. Incidentally, do not be surprised if most cancer doctors keep quiet in public. It is part of their contract not to speak out. Only top people like Sikora dare to tell the truth despite government pressure to keep it from the electorate.

One other thing: next time one may be tempted to think that waste and bureaucracy don't really matter, remember that the British get second rate healthcare without drugs like sorafenib because there is not enough money to go round. There is not enough money to go round because in state run monopolies there is enormous waste and bureaucracy (see here and the category 'waste in public services'). Red tape kills.

Posted by James Bartholomew • Indexed in NHS

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