New £10,000 a year MS drug will be limited to certain patients

A NEW DRUG for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) became available in Ireland yesterday. Betaferon, which slows progress of the disease, will be available free of charge to between 10 and 20 per cent of the State's estimated 4,000 MS sufferers.

The treatment, at an annual cost of just under £10,000 per patient, will be provided under the Department of Health's long term illness scheme and administered through the health boards.

The Department's "protocol" allows supply of the drug to patients with the "relapsing/remitting" form of MS, where there are flare ups followed by periods of recovery. About 40 per cent of sufferers have this form of the illness. The drug is recommended for those in the early stages of MS who can walk unaided.

Betaferon can only be prescribed by a neurologist or consultant physician, and it is estimated that about 250 people in the Republic will benefit from the medication, which is injected every second day and will cost £9,348 a year per person.

However, an American neurologist who carried out clinical trials on the drug maintains that the basis for prescribing it in Ireland is "too restricted".

Prof Fred Lublin, of Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, said yesterday that the potential pool of patients should be increased, as had been done in the US, where a five year study had shown that those taking the drug had recorded 30 per cent fewer relapses.

The Department of Health says that the medication is currently only indicated for the treatment of certain categories of patient.

"Because of the significant resource implications for the health services arising from the potential very high cost of this medicine, it is essential to ensure that the available resources are used to the optimum benefit of the patients concerned."