NICE and advice

Sir, I was interested to read that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has claimed that “millions of pounds could be saved if doctors use appropriate medicines and stop using out-of-date treatments” (Public Agenda, Sept 12).

Odd, then, that the Government should have cancelled its subscription to the Which? drugs and therapeutics bulletin, a journal that for 40 years has provided independent reviews of drug efficacy and advice for clinicians, leaving the publication facing collapse unless it can raise private subscription.

The Government simultaneously cancelled the NHS copyright licence, meaning that anyone photocopying more than one copy of an article from a professional journal, for distribution at teaching meetings, is committing a crime.

These may simply be ill- informed attempts to reduce NHS spending. But they may constitute a deliberate attempt to eliminate what many see as an alternative source of advice to NICE.