Health
Dad's fury at cancer blow for daughter
 |
| Don Rawlinson |
A DESPERATE cancer sufferer
has been forced to spend more
than £14,000 for a drug to keep
her alive - because she no longer
lives in the North-East.
The 63-year-old, who asked for
her name to be withheld, used to
live and work in Darlington but
moved to Surrey.
Now she needs a new lung cancer
drug called Tarceva - but her
local NHS trust will not pay for it.
Had she still lived in Darlington,
the life-giving treatment
would have been available free
because the North-East is the
only region in England to allow
GPs to prescribe the drug.
Last night, her 88-year-old father,
who lives in Darlington,
said he was appalled at the latest
cancer lottery scandal.
Don Rawlinson said he was furious
his daughter was having to
go private to get Tarceva, which
is available in Scotland, western
Europe and China - but not in
most of England.
The exception is the North-
East, where Darlington father
Dave Hill fought to have the drug
prescribed on the NHS. Mr Hill
succeeded - but tragically died
six days later.
Mr Rawlinson's daughter was
forced to go private, paying about
£2,000 a month for the drug - plus
additional fees to her consultant
for x-rays and scans.
So far, she has spent £14,000 out
of her savings on a drug that has
given her pain relief, extra energy
and a better quality of life.
Mr Rawlinson said his daughter
was at death's door and was
planning her funeral before she
was prescribed Tarceva.
After reading in The Northern
Echo that patients in the North-
East could get Tarceva, she
pleaded with her local NHS consultant
to prescribe the drug, but
Surrey Primary Care Trust officers
turned her down on the
grounds the drug was not costeffective
enough.
Last week, one of world's leading
lung cancer specialists, Professor
Nick Thatcher, of
Christies cancer hospital in
Manchester, told The Northern
Echo that the use of Tarceva on
the NHS was "unanimously supported"
by UK lung cancer specialists.
Mr Rawlinson said he thought
the situation was "very unfair"
and against the principles of Nye
Bevan, who founded the NHS 60
years ago.
He said: "There is no such
thing as an NHS any more. If my
daughter lived up here she would
get it, but because she lives in
Surrey she can't."
Mr Rawlinson said the NHS
and drugs watchdog Nice - the
National Institute for Clinical
Excellence - "need to be challenged"
on the issue of the costeffectiveness
of new cancer
drugs.
"The NHS must be there for the
welfare of the patient and not to
make a profit," he said.
Mr Rawlinson was staggered
that Nice was not recommending a drug that had transformed his
daughter's quality of life.
He said: "The drug has
changed her life. She can walk
now and she can even go out with
her husband for the odd meal.
"She was in a lot of pain and
constantly coughing. After taking
Tarceva, the cough has disappeared,
along with the pain."
Mike Unger, chief executive of
the Roy Castle Lung Cancer
Foundation, said: "This is quite
disgraceful. I have every sympathy
for Mr Rawlinson and his
daughter. Why should English
patients suffer when the rest of
the world, including China, gets
this drug?"
"That is where Nice falls down.
They do not look at the quality
of life that these drugs can bring.
If you have a very short time left,
you have to have a good quality
of life."
The Northern Echo revealed
last week that Nice said it might
veto Tarceva on the NHS because
it is not cost-effective enough.
A spokeswoman for Nice said:
"Nice is currently appraising the
use of Tarceva for the treatment
of non-small-cell lung cancer."
"Until Nice issues final guidance
on the use of Tarceva for the
treatment of non-small-cell lung
cancer, individual cases should
be assessed at a local level within
the NHS."
The Department of Health said
it was unacceptable for trusts to
use the absence of Nice guidance
as an excuse not to prescribe.
10:21am Wednesday 30th April 2008
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