"This decision doesn't stack up."This is the first time that Nice has allotted two days for an appeal hearing. In its final appraisal last month, Nice recommended that only patients with moderate cases of Alzheimer's - not those with mild or severe forms - should be eligible for these treatments on the NHS They cost £2.50 per day.The finding caused uproar. "There is medical evidence from professionals who are challenging Nice's decision," said Labour MP Eric Illsley, who raised the issue during Prime Minister's Question Time last week. However, with a two-year time lag and a complex supply chain, concerns still remain."We in Bordeaux need stricter controls and regulations on who is buying en primeur," said Leigh Claridge, the UK representative of Maison Sichel SA, a leading Bordeaux merchant."When an invoice is paid by the UK merchant, and the goods have been sold on, maybe the Bordeaux merchant should receive a list of names and addresses to whom the cases have been sold to, with proof of sale."More paperwork I know, but this has got to stop. So many private customers have been caught out with en primeur over the years.". The government drug-rationing body, Nice, is girding itself for an unprecedented public backlash at a two-day appeal hearing this week over its decision to restrict the use of Alzheimer's drugs. The assault, mounted by drugs companies, patient groups, physicians and carers, comes just a month after Nice finally caved into pressure to make the cancer drug Herceptin more widely available, ending a long campaign that dented its image. Drugs groups including Pfizer, Eisai and Shire, as well as the Alzheimer's Society, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and other groups, will give evidence on Thursday and Friday to a five-member appeal panel.The Alzheimer's row marks a further deterioration in the already prickly relations between Nice and the industry At issue is its findings on four different drugs.

"We will also take a commercial and pragmatic view as Mayfair certainly does not have the money to fight a legal challenge over title."Mayfair is likely an exception, as most UK merchants offering en primeur now take care to establish the customer's ownership. Customers discovered at the creditors meeting, held by administrators Grant Thornton last month, that their wine, which is still in Bordeaux, was in effect part of Mayfair's assets."This means we have given Mayfair an unsecured loan," said one of these buyers."Following representations by Mayfair's customers, we are seeking a definitive opinion," said Grant Thornton. The customer orders and pays for the wine, with delivery coming two years later. The advantage is that you buy at the cheapest price. The 2005 Bordeaux has been heralded as one of the greatest vintages ever, generating huge demand.

In the past few weeks alone, industry sources believe, worldwide en primeur sales of 2005s could have totalled £200m.But the recent collapse of Mayfair Cellars, the victim of an internal fraud, has highlighted the risks. The aim is to provide clear advice to British business."But we just disagree [the Act is unfair] We started consulting on this in March 2001 It is meant to deal with all crime This isn't there just to deal with terrorism.". Concerns about the millions of pounds invested in en primeur wine are growing after the collapse of a London-based fine wine merchant. Under en primeur, top Bordeaux wines are offered for sale while they are still in barrels. They will stand trial for seven counts of wire fraud, but not before spending at least a year in jail while the case is prepared.