Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether Cladribine is available for people with multiple<i></i>sclerosis through the National Health Service; and, if not, what steps they are taking to make it available.

Cladribine is not licensed for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

Prescribers can prescribe a medicine “off label” for unlicensed indications if they consider it to be of benefit to the patient and on condition that they retain full clinical responsibility for that patient.

The National Institute for Health Research Horizon Scanning Centre published a report on cladribine for multiple sclerosis in 2008 and this is available at:

www.hsc.nihr.ac.uk/topics/cladribine-movectro-for-multiple-sclerosis-relapsi

We have made no assessment of research undertaken in other countries.