Second Al Megrahi prostate cancer drug ‘too expensive’ for NHS
PROSTATE cancer patients are to be denied a life-extending drug used to treat Abdelbaset Also Mohmed Al Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber.
The Libyan terrorist has survived almost three years after a doctor said he had only months to live and he was released on “compassionate” grounds from a Scottish prison.
Al Megrahi, 60, is believed to be taking cabazitaxel to combat his prostate cancer.
But the drugs funding watchdog has decided against allowing its use on the NHS as it claimed the drug only extends life by three months and at £22,000 is too expensive.
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) reached the same decision in February about another prostate cancer drug taken by Al Megrahi, abiraterone, as it they said only extends life by four months on average.
Critics say the two new drugs give some patients much longer than three or four extra months and do not cost as much as Nice claims.
Prostate Diaries 