The High Authority for Health (HAS) is preparing to reassess the “medical benefit rendered” (SMR), that is to say the effectiveness of the four anti-Alzheimer’scurrently on the market, namely donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine and memantine.
The France Alzheimer association is concerned about the possible degradation of the four molecules, going from an SMR already considered “minor” to “insufficient”.
In a press release, the association claims to fear this possible “risky and unjustified decision” and fears the negative impact that this would have on the 850,000 Alzheimer’s patients.
The deterioration of the SMR, an obstacle to early diagnosis
This degradation, which would result in a reimbursementtotal drugs, would be counter-productive and detrimental to patients in several ways, lists the association. “Anti-Alzheimer’s drugs today constitute a relevant therapeutic response for many sick people. Without any specific drug treatment, the interest of the diagnosis (…) could appear secondary”. The early diagnosis being however, the guarantee “of an adapted and effective care”, recalls the collective in a press release on its site.
A total delisting of drugs but a reduced economic impact
Another incriminating argument, these drugs can “improve the behavioral problems of certain sick people”, judges the association, even if it concedes that their impact on cognitive disorders “seems limited”.
Another point underlined by France Alzheimer in opposition to the total delisting of the four drugs: the economic impact would be “limited on the finances of Social Security since the four molecules have all been generic since 2016”.
In France, one out of two patients is unaware that they have Alzheimer’s disease. With 850,000 sick people currently, Alzheimer’s could affect 1.3 million French people by 2020.
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