From 1 October 2005 to 25 October 2006, the Department has received 992 letters and emails about Velcade from users of this drug and other interested parties. It would be possible to identify the exact number from users only at disproportionate cost. We have also received two petitions about this drug.
It is for clinicians, in discussion with patients, to determine treatments for a patient's condition. Treatments that have been positively appraised by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) must be funded by primary care trusts within three months of publication of guidance, if the patient concerned is eligible.
Where NICE guidance is not available, PCTs should continue with local arrangements for the managed introduction of new technologies. These arrangements should involve an assessment of the available evidence for the technology in question. Funding for such treatments should not be withheld simply because guidance from NICE is not available.