Charity funds fight over eye disease
Monday, 09 Jul 2007 13:27
Wet AMD is the leading cause of sight loss in the UK
Health In Focus
Another nail in the coffin for smokers? Catch out exclusive webchat to find out... Full Story
A charity has agreed to fund a pensioner's legal fight to obtain drugs to help fight a disease that could leave him blind
The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) will financially back 84-year-old Dennis Devier's action against Oxfordshire primary care trust (PCT) for "operating an illegal blanket ban on providing sight-saving treatments".
War veteran Mr Devier suffers from wet AMD (age-related macular degeneration), which is the most common cause of blindness in the UK.
At present guidelines from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence say treatment should be offered on a case by case basis, with roughly one in five people receiving treatment due to the cost of the drugs.
But, according to the RNIB, Oxfordshire PCT has refused to see Mr Devier as an "exceptional case", despite the fact that he is already blind in one eye, has diabetes and Paget's disease and is his disabled wife's carer.
The RNIB claims that the PCT is operating a "blanket ban" on providing anti-VEGF drugs which treat wet AMD.
"Oxfordshire PCT has told Dennis that for him to be eligible for sight-saving treatment he must be an 'exceptional case'," Steve Winyard, RNIB's head of campaigns, said.
"In RNIB's view he is. Oxfordshire PCT claim to be operating a policy where they consider treatment on an individual basis but as far as we understand they have not funded a single case of anti-VEGF treatment.
"Dennis has had his appeal turned down three times now. If Dennis isn't an 'exceptional case', then my question to Oxfordshire PCT is, who is?"
The legal action has obtained the support of Henley's Conservative MP Boris Johnson, who told the BBC that the decision to deny his constituent the drugs was "outrageous".
"I have been in continual discussion with the PCT about whether or not they can fund him," he said.
"Clearly he satisfies every possible criterion for an exceptional case. He is well into his 80s, his wife's had a heart attack, he's going blind, he's her sole carer. It's greatly to the benefit of the taxpayer if he is allowed to remain as her carer and look after her."
A spokeswoman for Oxfordshire PCT said that the case was the subject of a meeting this morning.