It was announced in June that some new medications for arthritis sufferers might be made available soon subject to their approval by the National Institute for Health and Excellence (NICE). Now call me a right wing old cynic but doesn't that acronym just fit the image and personality of Labour governments. It is meant to give the impression of quality but is really about quantity (of money that is). Still in August, NICE approved the drug MabThera (rituximab) What they said was;

Rituximab, when given together with methotrexate (another drug used to treat rheumatoid arthritis), is recommended as a possible treatment for adults with severe active rheumatoid arthritis only if:

* the person has already tried drugs known as disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs to treat their rheumatoid arthritis, one of which must have been an ‘anti-TNF’ drug, but these haven’t worked or weren’t suitable
* it clearly improves the person’s condition, and doesn’t need to be given more often than every 6 months
* treatment is supervised by an experienced doctor who specialises in rheumatoid arthritis.

For another drug, Adalimumab they have said;

Adalimumab should be offered as an option for treating adults with active and progressive psoriatic arthritis when:

* the person has arthritis with three or more tender joints and three or more swollen joints, and
* at least two other disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs), given on their own or together, haven’t worked.

Treatment with adalimumab should be started and supervised by a specialist physician who is experienced in diagnosing and treating psoriatic arthritis.

If the person’s psoriatic arthritis has not shown a measured response at 12 weeks, their treatment with adalimumab should be stopped.

The news is not so good, however, for Orencia (abatacept). On 1st August 2007, NICE opted not to prescribe abatacept (Orencia) for the treatment of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis.