which may give people extra time living independently. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) concluded they were a poor use of taxpayers' money and said funding them could lead to other services being cut. Campaigners say it is a disappointment, but other dementia experts have also supported the decision. The two drugs, donanemab and lecanemab, both help the body clear a gungy protein that builds up in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease. The medicines do not reverse or even stop the disease, rather brain power is lost more slowly with treatment.

Clinical trials of these drugs were celebrated as a scientific triumph as they showed, for the first time, it was possible to change the course of Alzheimer's. But since then a row has developed over the cost of the drugs and how meaningful the benefit is.

The official price in the US is £20,000-£25,000 per patient per year. What the NHS would pay is confidential. Around 70,000 people in England with mild dementia would have been eligible, potentially putting the bill in the region of £1.5bn a year for the drugs alone. NHS resources, including infusing the drugs every two-to-four weeks and frequent brain scans to manage dangerous side effects, would also massively ramp up the cost. (BBC)