Recent NICE guidance

Published: 19 September 2011

Check Lynda Gettings reports on NICE guidance

Ankylosing spondylitis – golimumab

Golimumab for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis

NICE recommends golimumab as a possible treatment for some adults with severe, active ankylosing spondylitis in the same circumstances as other drugs for the condition. Visit here for the full summary and guidance documents.

Rheumatoid arthritis – abatacept (2nd line)

Abatacept for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis after the failure of conventional disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs

NICE does not recommend abatacept, taken with a drug called methotrexate, for adults with moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis when one or more drugs known as ‘conventional’ disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (or DMARDs for short), including methotrexate, have not worked. Visit here for the full summary and guidance documents..

Coming soon...

Quality standards for musculoskeletal conditions

The Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Alliance (ARMA) and its 36 member organisations welcome the announcement by NICE to include rheumatoid arthritis, low back pain, seronegative arthropathies, elective joint replacement (hip, knee and shoulder) and osteoarthritis in its proposed list of NHS health care topics for quality standard development.

ARMA Director Ros Meek said: “ARMA has been calling for the development of such standards since May 2010 and looks forward to working with NICE to ensure that these conditions are included in the final list of agreed quality standard topics; 9.6 million adults and 12,000 children in England suffer from a musculoskeletal condition and NICE’s decision to recognise these conditions in the list of proposed quality standards is a positive development which should help raise the quality of care delivered to patients.

“ARMA continues to call on the Department of Health to develop a national outcomes strategic approach to musculoskeletal conditions to ensure that musculoskeletal conditions are fully prioritised in the new NHS and that the government’s reforms help deliver improved outcomes for patients.”

For further information, contact Ros Meek on telephone: 020 7842 0910/11, or email: rosmeek@arma.uk.net.