Asthma sufferers denied £30,000 vital jab which could cut risk of attacks by ... trends now
Patients with severe asthma are being left to battle debilitating and potentially fatal symptoms because doctors are failing to prescribe drugs that cut the risk of attacks by up to 70 per cent.
Research suggests less than a quarter of those eligible are benefiting from a new class of asthma medication called biologics.
These injections, needed once every two months, give sufferers an alternative to standard treatments, which can stop working – and also cause side effects that include weight gain, brittle bones and skin rashes.
But the charity Asthma And Lung UK claims that GPs often don't refer patients to lung specialists who can prescribe biologics because there is confusion over who is eligible. The drugs cost £30,000 a year, meaning all patients must be referred and then assessed before receiving a prescription.
Studies also show that about 40 per cent of those referred were forced to wait more than three years to access the drugs due to a lack of respiratory specialists.
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Patients with severe asthma are being left to battle debilitating and potentially fatal symptoms because doctors are failing to prescribe drugs that cut the risk of attacks by up to 70 per cent (stock photo)
'Currently people are left at risk of life-threatening asthma attacks, and waiting far too long for a diagnosis,' says Sarah MacFadyen, head of policy and external affairs at Asthma And Lung UK.
'This needs to change. It makes no sense to have biologics available if people with severe asthma can't access them. We are urgently calling on NICE [the NHS spending watchdog] to provide doctors with guidelines on how to spot the signs of severe asthma and when to refer a patient to a specialist.'
About eight million Britons live with asthma, which develops when the breathing tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs become inflamed and narrow – sometimes triggered by allergies or exercise.
For most, symptoms are mild and easily controlled with inhalers, but about 200,000 asthmatics have a severe form of the disease. They are usually reliant on stronger medicines, including powerful steroids which can trigger uncomfortable side effects.
For roughly 60,000 patients, even the steroids are not enough to prevent regular attacks, which often require urgent treatment in hospital. Over the past decade, biologics have offered hope to this group.
Also known as monoclonal antibodies, they work by blocking proteins released by the immune system that actually worsen lung inflammation, as well
