NICE have agreed to a second consultation on the new draft guidelines on type 2 diabetes after “universal” requests from stakeholders. The first draft received widespread criticism from clinicians, including the Primary Care Diabetes Society (PCDS), because of its new advice on glucose-lowering medications, which were branded as “nonsensical” and “based too much on cutting costs.” The use of repaglinide as an alternative first-line therapy in people intolerant to metformin attracted particular criticism, as the agent has been used very little since its launch in the 1990s and most clinicians are unfamiliar with it.
David Millar-Jones, Chair of the PCDS, said: ‘The PCDS has been concerned that the original draft guidance would be subject to confusion and place patients at risk.
‘We drafted a letter to NICE expressing our concerns. This was supported by other organisations who are leaders in clinical management. Despite little acknowledgement and several emails asking for review of the “substantive changes” that we were told had been made, we are delighted that this has now been put forward for a further consultation.
‘We look forward to reviewing the new therapeutic advice and hope that it is a document that we can now support.”
A spokesperson from NICE said: “We encourage anyone with a relevant interest to submit their views via the NICE website so they can be fully considered by the guideline development group and help inform the final guideline.”
The consultation has been extended until 5 pm on 24th July. Details can be found here.
