NICE finally ruled this week that photodynamic therapy (PDT) for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is now available on the NHS for some groups of sufferers. It is 120 weeks since NICE began looking at the problem but Professor David Barnett, chair of the appraisal committee, said drawing up the recommendations had been complex and that it was important to get it right.
The RNIB has urged the health service to ensure that the new guidance is enforced within three months.
The NICE ruling recommended the use of PDT for those patients with the most damaging type of classic wet AMD and has done away with the postcode lottery of prescribing seen with other drugs.
The primary beneficiaries among sufferers are those with classic subfoveal choroidal neovascularisation (new vessel growth) with no sign of occult CNV. Those qualifying for treatment should also have corrected vision of 6/60 or better.
A second group to undergo treatment will become part of a massive study into the effectiveness of PDT. This group has predominantly classic subfoveal CNV but with some occult CNV present. These patients will have their angiograms assessed at three national centres and their treatment administered centrally.
AMD patients who have already started a course of treatment will continue to receive treatment. NICE has not issued guidance for patients with a third type of wet AMD or those suffering from dry AMD, as PDT is not effective for those conditions.
Novartis, makers of Visudyne, a PDT drug, welcomed the guidelines and claimed that up to 7,500 patients a year could benefit.
Alan Bird, professor of ophthalmology at the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College, London, said the profession also welcomed the ruling.
He said AMD was responsible for 50 per cent of blind registration in the UK but added that, contrary to media reports, AMD didn't result in total blindness but the severe debilitating loss of central vision. The availability of the drug would not make the problem of AMD go away.
The NICE guidance would provide clear rules for the medical profession to follow to use the treatment where it was proven and most effective.Nearly 18,000 people lost their sight waiting more than two years for the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to issue guidance on a sight-saving treatment, according to the RNIB.
NICE finally ruled this week that photodynamic therapy (PDT) for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is now available on the NHS for some groups of sufferers. It is 120 weeks since NICE began looking at the problem but Professor David Barnett, chair of the appraisal committee, said drawing up the recommendations had been complex and that it was important to get it right.
The RNIB has urged the health service to ensure that the new guidance is enforced within three months.
The NICE ruling recommended the use of PDT for those patients with the most damaging type of classic wet AMD and has done away with the postcode lottery of prescribing seen with other drugs.
The primary beneficiaries among sufferers are those with classic subfoveal choroidal neovascularisation (new vessel growth) with no sign of occult CNV. Those qualifying for treatment should also have corrected vision of 6/60 or better.
A second group to undergo treatment will become part of a massive study into the effectiveness of PDT. This group has predominantly classic subfoveal CNV but with some occult CNV present. These patients will have their angiograms assessed at three national centres and their treatment administered centrally.
AMD patients who have already started a course of treatment will continue to receive treatment. NICE has not issued guidance for patients with a third type of wet AMD or those suffering from dry AMD, as PDT is not effective for those conditions.
Novartis, makers of Visudyne, a PDT drug, welcomed the guidelines and claimed that up to 7,500 patients a year could benefit.
Alan Bird, professor of ophthalmology at the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College, London, said the profession also welcomed the ruling.
He said AMD was responsible for 50 per cent of blind registration in the UK but added that, contrary to media reports, AMD didn't result in total blindness but the severe debilitating loss of central vision. The availability of the drug would not make the problem of AMD go away.
The NICE guidance would provide clear rules for the medical profession to follow to use the treatment where it was proven and most effective.Nearly 18,000 people lost their sight waiting more than two years for the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to issue guidance on a sight-saving treatment, according to the RNIB.
NICE finally ruled this week that photodynamic therapy (PDT) for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is now available on the NHS for some groups of sufferers. It is 120 weeks since NICE began looking at the problem but Professor David Barnett, chair of the appraisal committee, said drawing up the recommendations had been complex and that it was important to get it right.
The RNIB has urged the health service to ensure that the new guidance is enforced within three months.
The NICE ruling recommended the use of PDT for those patients with the most damaging type of classic wet AMD and has done away with the postcode lottery of prescribing seen with other drugs.
The primary beneficiaries among sufferers are those with classic subfoveal choroidal neovascularisation (new vessel growth) with no sign of occult CNV. Those qualifying for treatment should also have corrected vision of 6/60 or better.
A second group to undergo treatment will become part of a massive study into the effectiveness of PDT. This group has predominantly classic subfoveal CNV but with some occult CNV present. These patients will have their angiograms assessed at three national centres and their treatment administered centrally.
AMD patients who have already started a course of treatment will continue to receive treatment. NICE has not issued guidance for patients with a third type of wet AMD or those suffering from dry AMD, as PDT is not effective for those conditions.
Novartis, makers of Visudyne, a PDT drug, welcomed the guidelines and claimed that up to 7,500 patients a year could benefit.
Alan Bird, professor of ophthalmology at the Institute of Ophthalmology at University College, London, said the profession also welcomed the ruling.
He said AMD was responsible for 50 per cent of blind registration in the UK but added that, contrary to media reports, AMD didn't result in total blindness but the severe debilitating loss of central vision. The availability of the drug would not make the problem of AMD go away.
The NICE guidance would provide clear rules for the medical profession to follow to use the treatment where it was proven and most effective.
Nearly 18,000 people lost their sight waiting more than two years for the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) to issue guidance on a sight-saving treatment, according to the RNIB.