Alzheimer’s drugs move slammed

Campaigners have criticised the National Institute for Health and
Clinical Excellence’s decision to gather more evidence before
deciding whether to withdraw four Alzheimer’s drugs.

Nice announced this week that it will ask pharmaceutical companies
to research whether donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine and
memantine are particularly effective for certain groups of people.
Nice chief executive Andrew Dillon said more data could affect its
decision.

But Tony Elliott, professor of mental health of later life at
Staffordshire University, said there was no reliable way of testing
who would respond better than others and such an approach would
“simply deny treatment to patients who may benefit”.

Neil Hunt, from the Action on Alzheimer’s Drugs Alliance, said:
“There is overwhelming evidence which shows these drugs work and
more research should not be needed.”