Alimta - Mesothelioma treatment

Drug companies and patient pressure groups lobby parliament because the system for approving drugs is flawed (Drug firms' lobby tactics revealed, September 28). Mesothelioma treatment, Alimta, one of the drugs referred to, is the only licensed drug for the treatment of mesothelioma, a fatal tumour caused almost exclusively by asbestos exposure. Yet the National Institute for Clinical Excellence's (Nice) final appraisal states that Alimta is too costly, leaving mesothelioma sufferers without a treatment. This is not the case in other European countries, the USA and Australia, where Alimta is provided as first line treatment, and is affordable.