MP and “Carers’ contact” count cost of withdrawn dementia drugs
Local MP, Dan Rogerson, this week met with senior members of the Alzheimer?s Society including his own North Cornwall constituency?s "carers' contact", Cynthia Downing of Tregadillet.
The Society lobbied MPs at a parliamentary reception in the House of Commons following government recommendations that all three dementia drugs ? Aricept, Exelon and Reminyl ? be withdrawn on grounds of cost. The government body charged with making such recommendations ? the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) ? claims to be consulting Alzheimer's sufferers and their carers but refuses to publish their consultation document in layman's terms.
The Alzheimer's Society claims that withdrawal of NHS funding for the drugs would seriously diminish sufferers' quality of life as carers report considerable improvements to the wellbeing and happiness of those affected.
Commenting, North Cornwall Carers' Contact for the Alzheimer's Society, Cynthia Downing, said, "For the government to look at the cost of these drugs as simple figures on a page misses the point. What about the cost to sufferers and carers if these drugs are withdrawn. NICE haven't even given carers their say."
North Cornwall MP, Dan Rogerson added, "Alzheimer's can turn everyday life into an ordeal. The government must listen to those who know best about dementia: that is those who suffer it, and their carers. To withdraw medication with the capacity to bring quality to otherwise shattered lives on the grounds of cost would be a callous betrayal."
