Anti-TNF Therapy (Hansard, 17 December 2001)

HC Deb 17 December 2001 vol 377 c169W 169W

§ Mr. Swayne
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the availability of anti-TNF therapy within the NHS. [22739]

§ Jacqui Smith
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is currently appraising the two main drugs involved in this therapy, etanercept (enbrel) and infliximab (remicade). Until NICE has completed its appraisal, national health service bodies have been advised to use existing arrangements to determine local prescribing policies, using the publicly available evidence to inform their decision.