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CANCER PATIENT WINS FUNDING BATTLE
A cancer patient from Urmston has found out that he will now receive funding for his £2,000 a week medication. David Jackson, who criticised the post code lottery that required him to pay the £12,000 treatment himself, was diagnosed with cancer of the liver, lungs and bowel in June 2006.
The recommendation of
the new drug Erbitux had its funding refused by Trafford PCT (TPCT) as this
drug has not been approved by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence
(NICE). Mr Jackson's
wife Jean told The Messenger newspaper if they lived in Cumbria or Scotland
the treatment would have been paid for.
Peter Telford, the barrister who appealed for the right for Mr Jackson to have funding for his treatment, said: "I'm delighted for David and his wife. They should have got the funding as theirs was a strong case, which I would have been willing to take all the way to the High Court. The drug was working very well for David so that was a strong factor in him getting the funding."
The story, which has been running on the front page of The Messenger newspaper, has highlighted the issue long campaigned for by Parliamentary Candidate, and Conservative Spokesman in Stretford and Urmston, Mark Versallion.
The Tory Parliamentary Candidate, Mark Versallion, added: "This funding result is good news and I hope the PCTs will take this latest incident as an opportunity to come together and form a coherent criteria for everyone - and put an end to the post code lottery. This is the 'National' Health Service after all.
"It is such an unpleasant experience for one patient to get funding while another does not and leads to feelings of aggrievement." Mr Versallion added.
Jean Jackson said: "The staff at Christies were thrilled for us and we'd like to thank them and our consultant Dr Mark Saunders along with the doctors at Urmston Group Practice and Cllr Christine Turner, Barrister Peter Telford and Mark Versallion for their support."
A spokesperson for TPCT said: "TCPT would like to confirm that following due process Mr Jackson's case for treatment has been considered by a panel at the PCT. Taking all supportive evidence into consideration Mr Jackson's treatment case will be supported on an individual basis. "Mr Jackson, his family and his clinical team are all aware of this decision and treatment will commence this week."