PR Week Echo Columns

Organisation: NICE

Analysis and commentary by Echo Research.

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The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE) decision, to approve the breast cancer drug Herceptin, was lauded with the headline: "It's good news time" (Mail on Sunday, 11/06). Certainly, the proposals bought a "draught of positive responses" (monstersandcritics.com, 9/6), not least for the speed of the announcement: "It is gratifying to see NICE respond so quickly" (Professor Sikora - Cancer Specialist, Daily Mail, 9/6).

Many applauded NICE's action, particularly given Herceptin's controversial history of personal campaigns, litigation and exposure of UK healthcare rationing. "A year of uncertainty and post code lottery is at last coming to an end" (J Hughes - Breakthrough Breast Cancer, 4ni.co.uk, 9/6).

Cautionary tales were never far away, however. While welcoming the judgement, Kate Law, of Cancer Research UK, stated: "We must remember that Herceptin is only suitable in about one in five cases of breast cancer. So it's essential not to create a climate of false hope for women, where Herceptin is seen as a miracle cure" (politics.co.uk, 9/6). The drug's limitations were matched by financial concerns. With news of the NHS' debt crisis still in the public eye, questions of funding were also raised, "Herceptin for all to cost £91m a year" (Times, 9/6).