Protest Vow for Cancer patient over ‘too costly trreatment’
A former town mayor with terminal cancer has pledged to refuse life-prolonging drugs unless they are prescribed to all patients likely to benefit from them.
Chris Lewis plans to picket the Senedd and both Houses of Parliament over the decision by an NHS body not to recommend the use of Sutent for the treatment of kidney cancer.
The drug, whose generic name is Sunitinib, is approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in the United States, where it is used as a matter of course in the treatment of kidney and gastrointestinal cancers. In the UK, however, it has failed to secure the recommendation of NHS bodies amid concerns that it is seen as too expensive.
It's cost is around £13,500 a month.
Mr Lewis, 54, of Pwllmeyric, near Chepstow, was diagnosed with cancer in May, and has been given an estimated two years to live. A former mayor of Brecon, he is head of security at a Ministry of Defence establishment near Bristol.
He said: “So far as I am concerned, if a medical consultant has decided that a patient would benefit from taking a particular drug, cost should not be an issue.
“When my consultant at Velindre Hospital in Cardiff told me he was recommending that I should be given Sutent, he said that only around 20% of such recommendations were approved. “That is absolutely appalling.”
Mr Lewis said that after the National Assembly’s summer recess ends on September 21, he intends to mount a picket of the Senedd. “I shall also be going to both Houses of Parliament in Westminster,” he said. “I just don’t buy the argument that there is no money available within the NHS – a great deal is wasted in unnecessary bureaucracy.
“The NHS should negotiate with drug companies to bring down the cost of medicines, but people should not be deprived of treatment when their specialist doctors think it would benefit them. Not giving people drugs in these circumstances is tantamount to murder.”
Mr Lewis’ MP, David Davies, said: “I applaud the way in which Chris has mounted this campaign. I hope he will be allowed this drug, and if he is that he will be persuaded to take it so he can carry on his campaign against the postcode lottery that has turned what used to be a national health service into a fragmented one.”
The Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Wales, Professor Mike Harmer, said: “We cannot comment on individual cases.
“The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) or the All-Wales Medicine Strategy Group review the evidence for the use of a wide range of drugs, particularly those where the cost of the treatment is high and/or the benefits are marginal. “In making decisions, all the latest evidence is evaluated thoroughly.
“All drugs approved by Nice as clinically and cost-effective for use on the NHS must be made available to patients within three months of approval.
“Drugs that are not deemed clinically- or cost-effective are not recommended for use on the NHS. “However, if a clinician feels there are extenuating circumstances that makes such a drug appropriate for their patient, they can request that their local health board considers providing the drug.”
20 August 2008 Martin Shipton: Western Mail.
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