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There is a real sense of sadness - and anger for that matter - that the new breast cancer drug Kadcyla looks unlikely to be made routinely available on the NHS, something that is obvious from the bitter language being used by both sides.
The decision by England's official NHS advisory body, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), to reject Kadcyla prompted manufacturers Roche to claim the system was "broken".
NICE - not known for its strong use of language - responded by saying it was "really disappointed" in the approach taken by the drugs firm.
At the heart of this dispute is price. While the drugs are not a cure, they are effective at giving women with an aggressive form of the disease an average of six months of extra life expectancy.
But the drugs do not come cheap. A course of treatment costs £90,000 - more than five times what NICE would normally sanction.
When the row erupted in April after the watchdog first took a look at the drug, the two sides agreed to keep talking.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-28688316
The decision by England's official NHS advisory body, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), to reject Kadcyla prompted manufacturers Roche to claim the system was "broken".
NICE - not known for its strong use of language - responded by saying it was "really disappointed" in the approach taken by the drugs firm.
At the heart of this dispute is price. While the drugs are not a cure, they are effective at giving women with an aggressive form of the disease an average of six months of extra life expectancy.
But the drugs do not come cheap. A course of treatment costs £90,000 - more than five times what NICE would normally sanction.
When the row erupted in April after the watchdog first took a look at the drug, the two sides agreed to keep talking.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-28688316