FRUSTRATED MS sufferers in Warrington are devastated by the news that the future of a vital drug will not be decided until autumn.

Beta Interferon, a drug used to treat the relapsing and remitting form of MS, has been proven to significantly reduce relapse rates but the National Institute of Clinical Excellence made a decision to withdraw the drug from prescription early last year.

Sufferers expected NICE to announce their decision in January but were told just before Christmas that the decision would be postponed until July.

The drug works by slowing down the progression of the disease and is therefore only used to treat patients at a certain stage of the illness.

MS sufferer Tracey Gruszewski, aged 29, from Oakwood said: "It isn't fair to keep people with this chronic illness on a knife edge. I have lost all faith in NICE, we are talking about a degenerate disease, for many people like myself, by the time the decision is made it will be too late."

Glyn Wilkinson from the MS Society said: "It is taking NICE almost two years to reach a decsion that the rest of the developed world has already made. It could be September or October before a decision is announced given the consultation period after the initial decision."

Beta Interferon patient Terry Maynard, aged 45, from Callands said: "This is so frustrating, more people are being diagnosed every day and their condition is deteriorating because they do not have access to a drug that could hold off the progression of the disease. Sufferers are living with the knowledge that if they have another attack it could mean they fall outside the category for the drug."