'Life-Changing' MS Drug Could Save NHS £300 Million A Year, UK

Main Category: Multiple Sclerosis
Article Date: 22 Oct 2009 - 2:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions

The lives of 100,000 Multiple Sclerosis sufferers in the UK could be greatly improved while saving the NHS £300 million a year.

The claim comes from the LDN Research Trust ahead of the first International LDN Awareness Week which begins this monday.

Low Dose Naltrexone, or LDN, is already available on the NHS but not all GPs are prepared to prescribe it to treat MS - Naltrexone has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating alcoholism and drug addiction. LDN uses around 1% of that dose to treat MS.

MS sufferer Linda Elsegood founded the LDN Research Trust charity to campaign for clinical trials and has already helped more than 5,000 people in the UK reclaim their lives.

"Naltrexone is a generic drug that is out of patent, so very cheap to produce," says Elsegood. "The downside of that is drug companies will not fund trials as there is no money in it for them.

"LDN can treat the crippling effects of MS without side effects and at a fraction of the cost of existing treatments. An annual prescription can cost just £180, while the interferon drugs currently favoured by the NHS cost £10,000.

"The interferon drugs are only offered to a small selection of people with relapsing and remitting MS. Nothing is offered to people with Secondary Progressive or Primary Progressive. LDN could help with MS whatever type you have."

The MS Society believes there are 100,000 sufferers in the UK, but the actual figure could be as much as double that.

Research done by the LDN Research Trust suggests the NHS could save £300 million a year by prescribing LDN. The figure takes into account medication, professional care and disability aids.

"We believe that the annual savings could be much higher - nearer £1 billion," says Elsegood. "Clinical trials would cost just £2 million and could benefit MS sufferers, their families and the NHS.

"Accurate MS data is unfortunately hard to come by, but you can't put a price on the thousands of lives that have been transformed by LDN.

"We urge the Government to fund these trials for people not only with MS but also Crohn's, cancer and other diseases."

The first International LDN Awareness Week takes place from October 19-25, 2009.

Source
LDN Research Trust