Campaigners hoping to reverse a proposal to withdraw four Alzheimer's drugs from the NHS received a boost last week.

Plans by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) to withdraw its backing for the drugs had provoked an outcry from professionals and older people's groups.

The Department of Health's submission to Nice's consultation echoes many of the campaigners' concerns. It questions whether Nice has compared the costs and benefits of the drugs with non-drug interventions for cognition, behaviour, activity of daily living and carer burden.

It also asks what weight has been placed on how patients value the drugs, and whether Nice would consider including the effects on carer time in its analysis. The latter is unusual since Nice usually only considers costs to the NHS.