The clinical guideline on dementia says that donepezil, galantamine and rivastigmine can be given to patients with mild Alzheimer's if symptoms cause significant distress and other treatments are ineffective or unsuitable.
However, NICE also published its final technology appraisal on cholinesterase inhibi- tors which stands by its original, controversial decision that the drugs are only cost-effective in patients with a mini-mental state examination score of 10-20.
Last week, three pharmaceutical companies that make the drugs said they were seeking a judicial review of the decision.
London GP Dr Steve Iliffe, a member of the NICE dementia guideline development group, said: ‘The guidelines emphasise the importance of clinical judgment over mechanistic reliance on test scores.'
