Questions about Botox in the UK
In July 2010, Botox was approved as a preventive treatment for chronic migraine in the UK by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. But is there enough evidence for Botox? Should it be offered (funded) by the NHS (National Health Service) across England and Wales?
Medicine watchdog NICE (The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) is saying "not yet". They feel that more data is needed, and they’re asking the makers of Botox (Allergan) to provide it.
Although the people with NICE admit that Botox seems to have some benefits in recent studies, they claim that the benefits have been small – small enough that they could be explained simply by the way the studies were conducted.
Proffesor Carole Longson, director of the health technology evaluation centre at NICE said,"Without this additional evidence, potentially we will be unable to advise the NHS that this drug is good value for money for these adults because there are currently too many uncertainties."
But NICE remains open to comments on their recommendation before they make it official. The deadline will be the 8th of March, after which NICE will put together it’s final guidelines.
The Migraine Trust and The British Association for the Study of Headache prepared a joint statement in response to NICE. As a part of their statement they said:
We know that BOTOX® is effective for some but not all patients who suffer from chronic migraine. We also know that many other preventative treatments are not effective for treating chronic migraine and that they can cause unacceptable side-effects. It would be extremely unfortunate if this treatment is denied to those who have exhausted all other options and those who have responded well to the treatment. The Migraine Trust advocates that this treatment should be made available to those who fail to respond to at least three preventative treatments to have a fair chance to see if BOTOX® treatment will work for them.
More from the BBC: Not enough evidence for Botox migraine jab, says NICE
17 February 2012 @ 2:04 am
I feel bad for UK residents with migraine. The joint statement is laudable.
17 February 2012 @ 2:24 pm
I have tried Botox injections for my migraines… it did NOT work… I have spent the last 6 weeks, after the injections, with a constant migraine/headache… The muscles in my neck became paralised and I could not lean or pick up anything off the ground, because it felt like that my head would explode from the back of my head to the top of my head… I have a hard time chewing, swallowing, cause it gives me a cramp in the forhead…I even have a hard time brushing my teeth and washing my face because, just that small pressure it would take to do so, would hurt, alot… Also, I can hardly turn my head. I believe, the Botox injections made ME worse then I was… Maybe for some people it would work, but not for me… 🙁 Never again!!