High court rescues "end of the road" cancer patient
Multiple myeloma affects blood cells
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Wednesday, 10, Sep 2008 06:32
A cancer patient with just months left to live has won his appeal to get access to a potentially life-extending drug on the NHS.
Representatives of Colin Ross, 55, from Horsham in West Sussex, told the high court he could only survive two months without recourse to Revlimid because of his status as a sufferer of multiple myeloma.
The drug has not yet been fully approved by the NHS' drugs watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Mr Ross was denied the drug by the West Sussex primary care trust because his case was not deemed to be "exceptional" and on cost-effective grounds.
Both those arguments were rejected by a judge at the high court today, leaving Yogi Amin, a partner in Irwin Mitchell's Public Law team representing Mr Ross, saying that their client was "understandably delighted".
Mr Amin attacked the "postcode lottery" culture which affected the case. Mr Ross had discovered the drug was available on speaking to another patient at the Royal Marsden hospital who was allowed the drug because he lived in East Sussex.
"His NHS doctor and team of expert clinicians at the Royal Marsden Hospital prescribed Revlimid to Mr Ross as an exceptional case, and doctors advised that the drug is the only viable option available to extend his life," Mr Amin said.
"Despite this, it has taken months, and a high court legal battle, for him to gain access.
"Mr Ross's case demonstrates the devastating effect that the postcode lottery can have on people's lives but today he is overjoyed that he has won his right to live.
"He is grateful that legal aid was available, without which he wouldn't have been able to afford the legal support needed to challenge the PCT decision."