Wet AMD

[Grandad]

I have told in the past that both my wife and myself have wet Age Related Macular Degeneration (AMD). Mine fairly mild in my left (best) eye in which I currently have an injection of Eyelea every 14 weeks. My wife has the condition more seriously in her right eye and she has an injection of Lucentis in that eye every 4 weeks.
We have known for a long time that there is a cheaper but just as effective drug available which had not been approved for use by the NHS.

It is in the news that 12 North East Clinical Commissioning Groups have won their case to offer the cheaper drug Avastin to their patients. It is estimated that this could save the NHS around half a billion pounds every year. Of course the drug companies Bayer and Novartis are not happy.

The cost comparison is Lucentis £551 per injection, Eyelea £816, and Avastin £28
Usual example of the NHS being ripped off. I will be very happy to change to Avastin (a cancer treatment drug) which has been proven to give exactly the same results as the other two drugs....

[LovelyLadyLux]

Wow!!! That is a HUGE $$ difference.

I read once somewhere a chart that had a comparison of drugs and the costs to produce vs what is charged and sometimes it costs a drug company pennies to produce a product that they then charge HUNDREDS of dollars for.

IF anything needs regulating I've often thought this does. Same with all the testing of drugs. IMO if somebody is terminal and is willing to undergo experimental drug treatment I'm for it. I also think sometimes the use of a drug is overly cautious in that 1 person has a reaction and they take the entire drug off the market!!