§ Mr. SymsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will make a statement on the availability to NHS patients of the drug Ebixa for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease; when the National Institute of Clinical Excellence will issue guidance on the use of Ebixa for the NHS in England and Wales; and what interim measures have been put in place to ensure that the drug Ebixa will be available to NHS patients pending the outcome of the NICE appraisal; [85467]
(2) what estimate his Department has made of the cost per annum of providing the drug Ebixa to NHS patients suffering from late stage Alzheimer's disease in (a) Dorset and (b) England; [85470]
(3) what provisions his Department has put in place to ensure that NHS patients in Dorset who suffer from Alzheimer's disease and who would benefit from the drug Ebixa are able to receive that drug. [85468]
§ Jacqui SmithThe drug memantine (Ebixa) was launched in this country for the treatment of people with severe dementia in October 2002. In line with Circular HSC1999/176, national health service bodies should use existing arrangements to access the publicly available evidence about memantine (Ebixa) and to determine local policies for the use of this drug. No estimates have been made about the likely future cost of this drug for people with severe dementia. No decision has been made as to whether to ask the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to carry out an appraisal of memantine for the treatment of people with dementia.