Clinical Council for Eye Health Commissioning supports call for Avastin review

The Clinical Council for Eye Health Commissioning (CCEHC), of which LOCSU and the Optical Confederation are members, has responded to the call by NHS Clinical Commissioners for a review of the use of Avastin to treat wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD).

Earlier this week clinical leaders from 120 Clinical Commissioning Groups, representing almost 60 per cent of all CCGs, came together to call on the General Medical Council, the Department of Health and NHS England to remove the current barriers preventing CCGs from commissioning safe and effective eye care services using the drug Avastin ‘off-licence’ to treat the debilitating condition of wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration. www.nhscc.org/latest-news/doctors-unite-seeking-support-commissioning-safe-effective-eye-care-services-will-save-nhs-millions/

In a statement released on 26 February 2015, the CCEHC said that it supports the view that the use of Bevacizumab (Avastin) for wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration is an issue which requires an urgent review by the regulatory organisations in the UK. The CCEHC said it recognises that the controversy around the use of Avastin for the treatment of wet AMD reflects a complex and possibly unique situation and that further debate may be required before a decision can be made about this issue. The full CCEHC statement can be found here.