Drug Budget: Row over cholesterol treatment

The National Health Service Executive is accused today of issuing misleading guidance to health authorities and GPs on the use of cholesterol- lowering drugs.

Health economists at the University of York and at Warwickshire health authority say the national guidance calls for a level of treatment that is unachievable, fails to state the likely benefits and ignores the question of cost effectiveness. In the British Medical Journal, the authors say that in Warwickshire's case, the use of such drugs in line with the guidance would cost pounds 8m, one fifth of the total drugs budget. They say the NHS Executive's advice is "simply inadequate."