Ruling provides hope for cancer patients
6:03am Friday 30th March 2007
Comments (6)
A TERMINALLY-ILL cancer patient fighting for a drug that could prolong his life has welcomed a decision which could lead to doctors being able to prescribe it on the NHS.
George King, 57, from Skelton, east Cleveland, has twice fought back from a rare bone marrow cancer, multiple myeloma, which attacked his spine.
Until recently, Redcar and Cleveland Primary Care Trust (PCT) was refusing to pay for Mr King to be treated with a new drug called Velcade, which can extend the lives of sufferers but can cost up to £100,000 a year.
Velcade is available to NHS patients in Scotland and is widely prescribed in Europe, but following a ruling by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), it is not being prescribed on the NHS in England.
Yesterday, a group representing myeloma charities hailed a decision by Nice to review a ruling which prevents patients from obtaining Velcade on the NHS in England.
The move comes in response to an appeal lodged by the cancer charities Myeloma UK, Cancerbackup and Leukaemia Care. They argued that Nice's initial rejection of Velcade was based mainly on the ground of cost, rather than effectiveness, and that the decision was unfair.
The Nice appeals panel has now ruled that as Velcade is the first in a new class of treatment, the Nice committee must fully explain its reasons for failing to recommend a drug which can significantly prolong the life of patients with an incurable disease.
Eric Low, chief executive of Myeloma UK, said: "This is a promising step forward for myeloma patients."
Mr King, a father-of-three, said: "It is brilliant news. It gives us a bit of hope."
Mr King has put plans to move to Scotland on hold, after officials at his local PCT changed their minds and agreed to pay for Velcade when his illness returns.
But this could be reversed if Nice eventually turns the drug down.
Mr King said: "I am currently in remission. I don't require the drug at the moment, but I am thinking about the future.
"The PCT has said it will fund Velcade until there is a decision by Nice," he added.
A move north of the border is still on the cards if a final decision goes against myeloma patients, said Mr King.
Your Say YourThe Northern Echo
gadgie, Durham says...
2:16pm Fri 30 Mar 07
Stephen Gash, Carlisle says...
2:23pm Fri 30 Mar 07
Not In Cheated England
Della Petch, Yorkshire, England says...
4:15pm Fri 30 Mar 07
Patrick Harris, Portsmouth, England says...
4:24pm Fri 30 Mar 07
Margaret Beckett - Farmers payments, sorry, English farmers payments.
Brown - responsibility for inflation goes to the Bank of England.
Prescott - the ten year transport plan.
Reid - Foreign murderers on the loose, illegal immigrants cleaning the Home Office, seven Passports each.
Byers - Railtrack.
etc. etc. etc.
will hanlon, huddersfield says...
7:27pm Fri 30 Mar 07
They have the temerity to talk up Britishness in England,what a slur.
In remission: Cancer sufferer George King has twice recovered from a rare type of bone marrow cancer
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sour little Englander, regions of britain says...
2:07pm Fri 30 Mar 07
by Robert Kilroy-Silk (NI)
to the EU Commission
Subject: English discriminated against in their own country
Will the Commission set up a commission to investigate the way in which a Member State is discriminating against its citizens on the basis of their nationality? Namely the UK Government is denying, for example, the English equal rights with the Scots and the Welsh in that the English suffering from bone cancer are denied the drug Velcade whereas the Scots receive it free; the English suffering from Alzheimers are refused the drugs Aricept, Reminyl and Exelon whereas the Scots are prescribed them free; the English have to pay university tuition fees but the Scots do not; the English who are elderly must pay for residential care yet the Scots do not; and the English pay for NHS prescriptions whereas from April the Welsh will not.
E-0628/07 EN
Answer given by Mr pidla
on behalf of the Commission
(26.3.2007)
Under Article 13 of the EC Treaty, the Council adopted Directives 2000/78/EC and 2000/43/EC prohibiting discrimination on grounds of racial or ethnic origin, age, disability, sexual orientation and religion or belief. These two Directives specifically provide that they do not apply to differences of treatment on grounds of nationality. Within a Member State, different rules may apply to different parts of the country depending upon the constitutional structure in question. This is a matter for the Member States, not the Commission, which therefore has no power to set up the commission requested by the Honourable Member.