Alimta recommended by NICE

Leading Industrial Diseases lawyer Adrian Budgen of law firm Irwin Mitchell has expressed his delight at the decision given today by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) to recommend the drug Alimta on the NHS to sufferers of devastating asbestos-related cancer Mesothelioma.

Irwin Mitchell, the law firm that successfully fought for the cancer drug Herceptin to be given to women with breast cancer, has fought for many clients to be given this drug and other Cancer drugs which doctors have prescribed but which have been denied funding on the NHS.

Mr Budgen said "I am absolutely delighted with the decision by NICE to recommend Alimta for use on the NHS. Mesothelioma is not only a dreadful disease; it is also stubbornly resistant to treatment.

Alimta is the only licensed treatment available for mesothelioma and is already widely available in other EC countries, including Scotland, and the U.S.A.