MS drug closer to medical card approval

THE controversial multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri is a step closer to becoming available for medical card patients.

The drug has now been deemed a cost-effective treatment by the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics, the agency responsible for recommending medicines for the public system.

It comes more than two years after Tysabri threatened the future of pharmaceutical company Elan when it was linked to the death of a patient during a clinical trial in America.