NHS backs new medicated wafer to prevent migraines

The NHS is set to offer a medicated wafer that dissolves under the tongue to help prevent debilitating migraines.

Rimegepant, which stops a protein that causes severe pain being released around the brain, will be available only to adults who have tried at least three other preventative drugs and still suffer from migraines on between four and 15 days every month.

The drug has been backed by the National Institutes of Health and Care Excellence, which makes decisions on drugs in England and whose recommendations are usually adopted in Northern Ireland and Wales.

Helen Knight, NICE medicines-evaluation director, said migraines were often a “invisible disability” and “blighted” millions of lives.

She added “Rimegepant is the first oral treatment for migraines to be recommended by NICE – and for many thousands of people, it is likely to be a welcome and more convenient addition to existing options for a condition that is often overlooked and undertreated.”

The Migraine Trust welcomed the decision but was “disappointed” the drug was not being made more widely available for treating migraines once they start.

Rob Music, chief executive of the charity, said “This would make a huge difference to people affected by medication-overuse headaches, those who are unable to take other acute treatments and who have not responded well to the currently available acute treatments.”

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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (jacquelinevance@chadlaw.co.uk), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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