NHS 'should pay for cancer drug'
A man who has prostate cancer has condemned a decision not to offer a drug which can improve patients' lives on the NHS.
Hugh Gunn, of Countesthorpe, fought to get funding for abiraterone and said it had transformed his quality of life since he started taking it nearly two months ago.
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But yesterday the National Institute for Health and Clinical Evidence (Nice), which approves drugs for use in England and Wales, ruled the benefits of the medicine – which costs £2,900 a month – did not justify the cost.
Mr Gunn vowed to campaign for a rethink. He said: "I feel really good and am enjoying a real quality of life.
"I did think I had reached the end. I had pains in my pelvis and down my legs and had a lot of difficulty in doing things like climbing the stairs.
"But two days after starting on abiraterone I felt so much better.
"I know nothing will cure my cancer but results so far show this treatment has stopped it.
"This drug could put prostate cancer in the same bracket as a chronic condition."
Mr Gunn's cancer was diagnosed on Christmas Eve 2005.
After doctors told him there was nothing more they could do, Mr Gunn managed to get support from a fund set up to pay for drugs not routinely available on the NHS.
He is a patient representative on Nice but was overruled by its committee.
Mr Gunn said: "I will be e-mailing the 8,000 members of the national Prostate Cancer Support Federation and asking people to make their views known to Nice.
"I think Nice realised abiraterone does work but, because you have to take it for the rest of your life it is going to be very expensive.
"It could help prolong life for thousands of men."
Sir Andrew Dillon, chief executive of Nice, said: "We are disappointed not to be able to recommend it.
"However, it is expensive and the committee did not feel the drug provided enough benefit to patients to justify the price."
Mr Gunn will continue to receive abiraterone, funded by the cancer drug fund.
A spokesman for the East Midlands strategic health authority, which deals with the fund, said seven applications in Leicestershire for abiraterone have been approved.
10 Comments
by Patrick4939
Sunday, February 05 2012, 3:59PM
“Oh Likeitalot
The EU insists we treat these immigrants like our own citizens so what is uninformed about that-
It is EU law.”
by LikeItaLot
Saturday, February 04 2012, 6:42PM
“by Patrick4939
Saturday, February 04 2012, 12:10PM
."It may not be politically correct to say it but if we refused immediate free benefits to the hundeds of thousand who come here without a job, we might just be able to treat more indigenous people who have subscribed all their working lives with state of the art medicine."
.
Nothing to do with PC. Just nonsense about " immediate free benefits to the hundeds of thousands...". Become informed about the process”
by Patrick4939
Saturday, February 04 2012, 12:10PM
“It may not be politically correct to say it but if we refused immediate free benefits to the hundeds of thousand who come here without a job, we might just be able to treat more indigenous people who have subscribed all their working lives with state of the art medicine.”
by FOXFAN99
Saturday, February 04 2012, 11:47AM
“It is a shame if this drug no longer becomes available through the NHS. What price on someone's life?”
by PlanetJane
Saturday, February 04 2012, 11:15AM
“Isn't it interesting that the EDL march attracts large numbers of comments and quite a bit of arguing whereas a story like this attracts very little. I hope Mr Gunn continues to benefit from this drug and that NICE reconsider their position.”
by Graham_LE8
Saturday, February 04 2012, 9:09AM
“@ nursemad; "I am not going to pay any more tax / me me society"?...
I have no idea of your income, but the reality for me (and many like me) is that my wife & I work, we feed, clothe and house our children and enjoy a single, non-extravagant UK holiday each year. We do not have anything left over to hand to local and central government in taxes for frivolous and vanity projects (like HS2).
Personally I'd rather they ploughed that £30-odd billion into the NHS to support treatment like this, so don't go off on the people - the government have the cash for this, they don't need any more from the taxpayers like us, just a little enlightenment as to what really matters, to spend it on...”
by nursemad
Friday, February 03 2012, 11:51PM
“Comes down to cuts made by government, and people who say "i am not going to pay any more tax, i want a tax reduction". Basically the me me me of society, the "as long as i am ok then i don't care about anyone else brigade". Who as usual are in their typical arrogant form in the online mercury today.”
by gerryspx
Friday, February 03 2012, 7:03PM
“I am happy to help those who are fighting for better cancer treatment as I have been doing this all my life, Professor Gerry Potter (BSc PhD MRSC)”
by LikeItaLot
Friday, February 03 2012, 5:37PM
“Perhaps gerryspx you would give your real name and designation which would add credence to your comments and enable those of us fighting for this to gain greater support. Many thanks”
by gerryspx
Friday, February 03 2012, 4:33PM
“As the Leicester scientist that discovered Abiraterone over 20 years ago I am diassapointed to see this has been turned down by the NHS and is not available to patients in Leicestershire. Abiraterone has taken over 20 years of research and development by a team of dedicated scientists and clinicians, with funding from the main research charities,and shown to be a safe and highly effective treatment for advanved prostate cancer. This drug was developed in the hope that one day it would be available to evryone in the UK suffering from rostate cancer. We also discovered Salvestrols which can treat every form of cancer so why arent Salvestrols on the NHS ?”