Alzheimer's - the battle continues

Published on Tue 7th Nov 2006

Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood joined MPs of all parties last week to protest against the final decision by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to allow the NHS to prescribe new anti-dementia drugs only to those with more advanced dementia.

"I think that's inhuman" said Martin, who once worked as a director of the Alzheimer's Society at national level and remains a member of the Cheltenham branch. "You don't often go to your doctor only to be told to go away until your illness has got worse. Alzheimer's is a cruel enough disease but this decision just piles on the agony. Eminent experts like the Royal College of Psychiatrists called it 'flawed and illogical'."

Martin and the other MPs agreed to press for an independent appeals process against NICE's life-or-death decisions.