Sight-saving drug Avastin is blocked by 'bureaucratic hurdles' Unlicensed cancer drug should be used on the NHS to prevent blindness Avastin is ten times cheaper than the NHS-recommended treatmentÂ Â Drug would save cash strapped hospital trusts Â£100 million a year Some NHS trusts have been telling consultants to switch to the drug Medics could now fall foul of General Medical Council rulesÂ Â Â Some cash strapped NHS trusts have been telling consultants to switch to Avastin (file picture) Eye specialists claim a cancer drug should be used on the NHS to prevent patients going blind â€" even though it is unlicensed. Avastin is cheaper than the NHS-recommended treatment for age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of vision loss in those aged over 50. According to the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, Avastin could save the Health Service Â£100million a year.Â Some cash-strapped NHS trusts have been telling consultants to switch to the drug rather than use the recommended Lucentis, which is around ten times more expensive. But in doing so, doctors could fall foul of General Medical Council rules, says the Royal College. It is calling for â€˜bureaucratic hurdlesâ€™ to be removed by the GMC and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) which would pave the way for use of the cheaper drug. Lucentis, which costs around Â£700 for an injection, is approved by Nice but Avastin, costing an estimated Â£70 a shot, is not licensed for eye conditions.Â However, findings from clinical studies suggest Avastin â€" used to treat bowel and breast cancer â€" is as effective and safe as Lucentis. Carrie MacEwen, president of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, is co-signatory to an editorial in the British Medical Journal, which appeals to the Government to remove the hurdles preventing Avastinâ€™s use. But she falls short of encouraging eye specialists to use the drug since the GMCâ€™s rules permit an unlicensed drug to be used only in the absence of a licensed medicine. Hospital eye services are struggling to cope with demand posed by the need for patients to have regular injections at a â€˜time of austerityâ€™, she said. â€˜Consequently patients may not be getting treatment when they need it.â€™Â A study found switching from Lucentis to Avastin could save NHS England Â£102million a year, and the money saved could be invested in the eye services. The Department of Health said it did not intend to ask Nice to review the use of Avastin.Â A spokesman said: â€˜Age-related macular degeneration is a very serious condition and there are already other licensed and Nice-recommended drugs available to treat this condition.â€™ According to the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, Avastin could save the Health Service Â£100million a year (file picture)