MULTIPLE Sclerosis sufferers in North Yorkshire have been given new hope after gaining access to a life- enhancing drug.
For years they have been battling to get NHS access to Beta Interferon - recognised as the first drug to improve MS symptoms - after many health authorities refused to prescribe it because of the £10,000 cost per patient.
Sharon Metcalfe, of Easingwold, is one of a few people who have recently received their first prescription. "I'm very lucky because if it had been any longer then I wouldn't have been able to have the drug," she said.
Despite Government legislation last May that made the drug available on the NHS, North Yorkshire patients are only now able to benefit from the treatment.
A "payment by results" programme was set up between the Government and five pharmaceutical companies, meaning prices would be reduced if patients did not see improvements over a ten-year period.
Creating an infrastructure for the programme at the Selby and York Primary Care Trust and York Health services NHS Trust meant that local patients have had to wait until now to receive Beta Interferon.
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