thanks.. this is a supportive letter- and all the more welcome compared to the other responses I have seen from some MP's.
So far there have been 2 PQ's asked see below.
even though the responses and answers are of the 'usual' kind- there is a groundswell of written opposition and with the petition currently standing at 5501we have collectively achieved a lot and are now 'highly visible'...
We have decided to keep the petition open until Sunday and hopefully we will hit 6000 - we have a lot of international support.
I will print the whole thing off on Sunday into hard copy and send copies to both Sec of State AL and Earl Howe.
Manchester June 9th: I think up to 6 of us have registered to atten the NICE committee meeting.
i have heard back that I will only be allowed to attend the 'IM resistant' meeting- I have been informed that the second meeting for IM intolerance has been closed to the public (because of commercial sensitivity) I am not sure why or who. has requested this but there is not much we can do.
Tweeting the petition on the CMLSupportGroup twitter account- only set it up 2 days ago. and also on my personal Facebook page.
Well done everyone ;o)
Sandy
Written Answers to Parliamentary Questions:
23rd May
Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment his Department has made of the capacity of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to carry out appraisals for innovative inhibitor therapies for rare cancers where the target population is very small. [56467]
Answer:
Paul Burstow: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has appraised, or is appraising, a number of inhibitor therapies for less common cancers. Full information on NICE's appraisal methodology is available in its “Guide to the Methods of Technology Appraisal”, available at:
www.nice.org.uk/aboutnice/howwework/devnicetech/technologyappraisalprocessguides/guidetothemethodsoftechnologyappraisal.jsp
23 May 2011 : Column 425W
Cancer: Medical Treatments
Mr Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the capacity of the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to carry out appraisals for innovative inhibitor therapies for rare cancers; what recent assessment he has made of the availability of such therapies; and if he will make a statement. [57177]
Paul Burstow: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has appraised, or is appraising, a number of inhibitor therapies for less common cancers. Full information on NICE'S appraisal methodology is available in its “Guide to the Methods of Technology Appraisal”, available at:
www.nice.org.uk/aboutnice/howwework/devnicetech/technologyappraisalprocessguides/guidetothemethodsoftechnologyappraisal.jsp
Primary care trusts are legally obliged to fund drugs and treatments recommended in NICE technology appraisal guidance, within three months of guidance being published, unless the requirement is waived in a specific case.
We also launched the Cancer Drugs Fund in April 2011, which makes £200 million available in each of the next three years to help thousands more cancer patients access the drugs their clinicians believe will help them.
