OSTEOPOROSIS specialists are preparing to challenge guidelines prepared by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence that they claim prevent adequate care.

A poll of 54 specialists by the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Hull and NOP World found that nine out of ten were concerned about the guidance.

Almost four out of ten said that if the guidance is followed, an inadequate standard of care will be provided, and more than half believe that they will be unable to prescribe the most appropriate treatments.

“These results suggest a lack of understanding by the institute about the real clinical context to which the guidelines will be applied,” Dr Nick Summerton, who led the study, said. The complaint is that the guidance, to be challenged in an appeal this week, limits the use of newer drugs. Eli Lilly, which makes two of the drugs involved, funded the survey.

Women with osteoporosis in England and Wales will be at higher risk of bone fractures than those in Ireland, Scotland and mainland Europe, according to Professor Graham Russell, Head of Orthopaedics at the Botnar Research Centre and the Oxford University Institute of Musculoskeletal Sciences. “This draft guidance restricts treatments based on age and cost rather than efficacy,” he said.

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