Cancer patient's Herceptin bid fails

Tuesday, 8 November 2005 12:00 AM

A woman suffering from breast cancer has lost her bid to get the lifesaving drug Herceptin made available to her on the NHS.

Elaine Barbour said North Stoke primary care trust (PCT) refused to give her the drug, citing reasons of safety and cost-effectiveness.

The mother of four now says she will take the PCT to the High Court to appeal against the decision.

Speaking to BBC News 24, Ms Barbour said: "This drug is my only hope and I will die without it."

Lib Dem health spokesman Steve Webb called the decision "a bitter blow for many women with breast cancer", and blamed the health secretary for previously raising expectations about the accessibility of Herceptin.

"Patricia Hewitt raised expectations when she claimed that all women who could benefit will have the opportunity to be treated with the drug. Yet the drug will not even be licensed for treatment of early stage breast cancer until next summer," he said.

Mr Webb added: "Ministers have a responsibility to people whose lives depend on these drugs not to raise false hopes and to choose their words carefully. The secretary of state has failed in this regard."

The government said last month all women with breast cancer should be screened to see if they could benefit from the drug, which is normally reserved for treating advanced stage breast cancer.

However, campaigners say many PCTs do not offer the treatment because the drug has not been officially approved and they cannot afford to provide it.

An application to extend the use of the drug in women with early stage breast cancer is to be submitted in February 2006.

A Somerset PCT decided to give Herceptin to former nurse Barbara Clark in October, ahead of the government's decision to screen all breast cancer patients to see if they could benefit from the drug.

Cancer charity CancerBACUP said the health secretary must intervene following today's ruling, since it will leave many women "extremely distressed and confused" and contradicts a speech made by Ms Hewitt last week when she said PCTs should not refuse to fund Herceptin "solely on the grounds of its cost".

Chief executive of CancerBACUP Joanne Rule said: "The decision by North Stoke PCT not to fund Herceptin directly contradicts guidance issued by the health secretary only two weeks ago.

"The health secretary must intervene urgently to clarify that PCTs must agree to fund Herceptin if doctors and patients decide that it is in the patient's best interests."

Last month the government's drugs watchdog, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice), said the NHS should pay for the drug.

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