£2 Hayfever Pill Too Expensive For NHS
NOTHING beats the great British Summer – the wasps, the Henmania, the inedible barbeques and of course, the hayfever.
Yet the NHS could have the cure to this annual affliction in the form of wonder drug Grazax. However, the new treatment, which could help transform the lives of the estimated 10 million hayfever sufferers in the UK, is being denied to patients because of a lack of NHS funds.
So far, the majority of NHS trusts have refused to fund the new £2-a-day pill, which works by building up the body’s tolerance to the protein in pollen which irritates the immune system.
A spokesman for Allergy UK says, “The hayfever season is getting longer and the condition can be very debilitating. This pill is very effective and it should be available. We need to see more funding for it.”
But with the drugs rationing watchdog NICE yet to consider Grazax for approval, each individual NHS trust has been left to decide whether or not to fund the drug, with the majority seemingly not interested.
Another summer of coughs and sneezes awaits us.
Posted: 12th, June 2007 | In: Money Comments (2) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
June 12th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Ah Matty, I trust you’ve never had hayfever then? If it was a little bit of coughing and sniffling it wouldn’t be a problem. My eyes swell up so much that I can’t see, my breathing becomes restricted, and my skin erupts in hives. This happens for about 5 months of the year.
Would you tell someone with a peanut allergy or bee-sting allergy that “It’s just a bit sore, stop making a fuss!” ? I doubt it!
June 12th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
can’t they just release it in the pharmasies for people to pay for it??
i have to say tho there is better things nhs could spend money on than ‘coughs and sneezes’