NICE ruling welcomed

The Macular Disease Society (MDS) has welcomed the decision by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to make Lucentis (ranibizumab) available to patients with wet AMD in England.

Last year, the watchdog triggered an outcry when it announced that patients should only be treated once they had lost vision in one eye.

In June 2007, the RNIB spearheaded a campaign in response to this draft guidance. The campaign generated a response from over 13,000 people who backed the sight loss charity's demand that NICE rethink its proposals.

Lucentis is already available in Scotland. In June this year the Welsh Assembly announced it had put aside an additional £5m to treat AMD patients. A similar plan is also under way in Northern Ireland to fund the use of Lucentis.