Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 20 February 2013
20 Feb 2013 · S4 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
New Medicines
Fourteen different ways of doing things is no longer acceptable.
Let me turn to the orphan drugs fund. That is very welcome, but it must not just be a sticking plaster. Clarity is needed on how it will be accessed, what conditions will apply and how it will be funded beyond April next year. Indeed, concerns have been raised by many, including the Daily Record, which reported that, if every eligible cystic fibrosis sufferer in Scotland were to be prescribed Kalydeco, that would cost £14.5 million. Kalydeco is just one of a number of orphan medicines. We need to be clear about how access will be decided.
I was reflecting on the previous, rather robust and sometimes humorous debate about capital budgets. That made me think that the cabinet secretary has no obstacle to doing something. The issue is not Westminster’s fault; it is the responsibility of all of us. I know that the cabinet secretary, unlike his predecessor, has moved quickly to set up the review. As people across Scotland are waiting for life-saving treatments, can he move equally quickly to set up new arrangements that will work in their interests?
I move amendment S4M-05654.1, to insert at end:
“; welcomes the New Medicine Review, which will consider the processes that facilitate access to new medicines, and the fund for orphan drugs that was announced in January 2013; notes serious concerns regarding the system of individual patient treatment requests, and calls on the Scottish Government to ensure that the views of clinicians are central to determining issues of access to medicines.”
Let me turn to the orphan drugs fund. That is very welcome, but it must not just be a sticking plaster. Clarity is needed on how it will be accessed, what conditions will apply and how it will be funded beyond April next year. Indeed, concerns have been raised by many, including the Daily Record, which reported that, if every eligible cystic fibrosis sufferer in Scotland were to be prescribed Kalydeco, that would cost £14.5 million. Kalydeco is just one of a number of orphan medicines. We need to be clear about how access will be decided.
I was reflecting on the previous, rather robust and sometimes humorous debate about capital budgets. That made me think that the cabinet secretary has no obstacle to doing something. The issue is not Westminster’s fault; it is the responsibility of all of us. I know that the cabinet secretary, unlike his predecessor, has moved quickly to set up the review. As people across Scotland are waiting for life-saving treatments, can he move equally quickly to set up new arrangements that will work in their interests?
I move amendment S4M-05654.1, to insert at end:
“; welcomes the New Medicine Review, which will consider the processes that facilitate access to new medicines, and the fund for orphan drugs that was announced in January 2013; notes serious concerns regarding the system of individual patient treatment requests, and calls on the Scottish Government to ensure that the views of clinicians are central to determining issues of access to medicines.”
References in this contribution
Motions, questions or amendments mentioned by their reference code.
- S4M-05654.1 Health Motion
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (John Scott)
Con
The next item of business is a debate on motion S4M-05664, in the name of Jackson Carlaw, on health. 15:55
Jackson Carlaw (West Scotland) (Con)
Con
The Conservatives have framed the motion with a view to making qualitative progress on the subject of cancer in this afternoon’s debate. In that spirit, we w...
Mark McDonald (North East Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Jackson Carlaw
Con
I will in due course.It is not a choice between detection and making drugs available—those are two halves of the approach that the Parliament should ensure i...
Mark McDonald
SNP
I know that Mr Carlaw was making a fleeting political point, but I will quote to him what Breakthrough Cancer Scotland said:“Breakthrough would suggest that ...
Jackson Carlaw
Con
The member has made his point. Many of the quotes used by Mark McDonald are from papers that were issued at the commencement of the cancer drugs fund in the ...
Joan McAlpine (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
Will the member take an intervention?
Jackson Carlaw
Con
No—I want to make the point.I am not someone who gets overly emotional in politics—I have been around long enough to know that the hard knocks come and they ...
The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing (Alex Neil)
SNP
This is a difficult and very sensitive subject. I think that we all recognise that making decisions about which medicines to provide for national health serv...
Jim Eadie (Edinburgh Southern) (SNP)
SNP
Does the cabinet secretary recognise that public trust and confidence go to the heart of the debate, and that the public have a right to expect that if their...
Alex Neil
SNP
I will deal with some of those points later in my speech.Thousands of medicines in various doses and formulations are available to clinicians in the UK. In S...
Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab)
Lab
I welcome the opportunity to debate access to new medicines in the NHS and the tone of the speeches made by Jackson Carlaw and the cabinet secretary. I also ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Elaine Smith)
Lab
You are in your last minute.
Jackie Baillie
Lab
Fourteen different ways of doing things is no longer acceptable.Let me turn to the orphan drugs fund. That is very welcome, but it must not just be a stickin...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
The debate is extremely tight, and we have already lost a member from it. I ask members to take only their four minutes.16:18
Aileen McLeod (South Scotland) (SNP)
SNP
I welcome the opportunity to debate a very serious and sensitive issue, particularly as a member of the Health and Sport Committee, as the issue forms part o...
Jackson Carlaw
Con
I understand the point that the member is making, but she has just referred to the £21 million that has been made available for the rare conditions medicine ...
Aileen McLeod
SNP
I speak as somebody who has worn both hats: one as a policy maker and one as a cancer victim and survivor. I am therefore acutely aware of how cancer suffere...
Duncan McNeil (Greenock and Inverclyde) (Lab)
Lab
I am sure that we will hear a lot in the debate about the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, the Scottish Medicines Consortium, individua...
Joan McAlpine
SNP
I think that the member was referring to my article in the Daily Record and I thank him for taking an intervention from me, which Mr Carlaw did not have the ...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
Please be brief.
Joan McAlpine
SNP
Does the member agree that there is an issue to do with pharmaceutical companies holding the health service to ransom—
Duncan McNeil
Lab
The member will speak in the debate. I hope that I will be given additional time.
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
I am afraid that this is a very short debate.
Duncan McNeil
Lab
I accept that the premise of Ms McAlpine’s article was that politicians should not be involved in the process at all. However, we set the parameters and we p...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
You must conclude, Mr McNeil.
Duncan McNeil
Lab
That is why the cabinet secretary instigated a review of the process. It matters that we lost precious time. That time was not as precious for us as it was f...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
Lab
I advise members that we might have to lose another speaker from the debate. Members must take interventions in their own time.16:26
Bob Doris (Glasgow) (SNP)
SNP
I welcome the debate, although I cannot accept the Conservative motion. I will explain to Jackson Carlaw why that is the case. Mr Carlaw will not share this ...
Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab)
Lab
That is the clinician’s decision.