Today was a big day for many Scottish people living with severe asthma. Many of us live day to day taking medications that do not fully help relieve our asthma symptoms and keep our asthma under control. It can be very frustrating and scary to live day to day not knowing how you will be.
In the UK medication approval is not universal. England and Scotland have different groups which approve or reject medications which could become part of the NHS formulary making it available to patients.
England have NICE- the National Institute of Clinical Excellence. NICE approved Fasenra earlier this year meaning it was available to patients who fit the criteria for it. However in Scotland we had a longer wait meaning many with severe asthma have been able to see the positive effects this drug has had on people in England knowing that they are not guaranteed it because the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has to approve it. The last monoclonal antibody Reslizumab was approved by NICE but rejected by the SMC so many were waiting with baited breath today to see what the SMC would do.
It was a huge relief today when I got a phonemail from Asthma UK to say it has been approved. This means there is one more drug out there for those with severe asthma to try and hope that it will be their wonder drug. The weird thing with monoclonal antibody treatments (aka the mabs) is that they work for some and not for others. Just because you qualify for them through your IgE or eosinophil count does not mean that it will make a difference. This leaves many feeling lost and wondering if there will ever be a break for them from living with daily symptoms struggling to breath something no one should ever have to do.
The below is part of the press release from Asthma UK which I contributed to about the impact that severe asthma has had only life and what the approval by the SMC means:
“My severe asthma leaves me gasping for breath, exhausted and unable to even walk down the road. While I’ve had asthma all my life, it worsened as I got older. I had no choice but to take long-term oral steroids at a high dose which has left me with terrible side effects including osteoporosis. I used to be sporty and had my dream job as a nurse but my asthma got so bad I had to give it up. This new drug could transform my life allowing me to get back into work and regain my independence. It’s high time that severe asthma was taken seriously and that everyone who needs this kind of drug is able to get it.”
I was also interviewed for the radio which went out across Global Radio Networks this evening which was also focused on living with severe asthma, the effects medications to date have had on me and what Fasenra could mean for me and many others like me.
I am really proud to have been able to share my story but also that there is light at the end of the tunnel for others. It finally feels like severe asthma is being recognised. It seems that asthma only makes the headlines when a young person dies from an attack which is catastrophic but asthma should not be in the headlines for this, this should not even be occurring but it is. Despite this asthma is not being recognised. Hopefully there will be enough coverage about the approval of Fasenra in Scotland and how many people it may benefit from it that asthma may get taken more seriously and there will be more funding available to help those with severe asthma whose lives are being dictated by a condition that is so misunderstood despite their own and their medical teams best efforts to control it.
For me I had hoped mepolizumab would be my wonder drug. I still hope that it will be but I am not sure. I am still reliant on oral steroids and not able to reduce my maintenance dose, I have had to give up work, have also recently decided to step back from some of my lacrosse commitments all because of my asthma. My best efforts to control it are not enough but there are limited medications available to me that I have not tried which could help me. With each new drug that is approved there is that little bit more hope that one day my asthma will no longer dictate my life and just be a part of my life that does not cause me any problems.
ANONYMOUS-ASTHMA 