Cancer mum loses treatment appeal
MOTHER-OF-TWO Bernice Sowter has lost her appeal to be treated with a drug which could save her life.
Mrs Sowter's leukaemia is currently not being treated, because she has been taken off the drug she was originally prescribed.
But the medication, Imatinib, was not working anyway and her consultant at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire wants to switch her to Dasatinib, a similar drug.
But even though it would be cheaper to treat her with the new drug – which tests have shown would be likely to prevent her leukaemia from progressing – NHS North Staffordshire has refused her appeal against a decision to deny her the drug on the NHS.
The 44-year-old law student said: "They are saying I'm not 'exceptional'.
"But I don't know what their exceptional criteria is.
"It is known that 20 per cent of people are resistant to Imatinib so I don't see why I can't have a drug which would work.
"I'm not being treated with anything at the moment because I have been taken off Imatinib – it was lowering my white blood cell count."
Mrs Sowter, who lives in Balterley, near Betley, with husband Jeremy and her two children, aged 10 and 11, was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia in September last year.
At the time she was half way through a law degree at Staffordshire University, studying to become a solicitor.
She was told her prospects were good because of the new 'miracle drug' Imatinib. But a six month course has done nothing to help her illness.
Tests have confirmed Dasatinib would control her leukaemia, and in fact treatment with that drug would cost less – the 600mg of Imatinib she had been taking costs £104.27 per day, while in comparison the 100mg-per-day of Dasatinib she would need would cost £83.49.
Mrs Sowter will have leukaemia for life, but if her condition is managed with Dasatinib she could lead a virtually normal life.
Untreated, her leukaemia will progress to its next phase and it is likely to kill her.
She is being supported by Newcastle MP Paul Farrelly, who has written to the primary care trust (PCT) on her behalf.
Mr Farrelly said: "Clearly Mrs Sowter's case is very serious. It is also an example of how the NHS bureaucracy is not working in terms of being flexible for quite a number of patients with serious issues and ailments."
A spokesman for NHS North Staffordshire said: "Dasatinib is being evaluated by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) but has not yet been approved by Nice for the treatment of this form of cancer.
"The PCT's policy is to not routinely fund treatments until they are approved by Nice, unless there are exceptional clinical reasons for doing so.
"NHS North Staffordshire does, however, commission drugs that have not been evaluated by Nice and considers these on a drug by drug basis.
"Appeals can be made against the process followed in making the decision, but not against the decision itself.
"Applications that are unsuccessful can be resubmitted at any time if further evidence of exceptionality can be provided by the patient and/or their clinician.
"All requests for treatments that are not routinely commissioned and which are not exceptional are treated as service developments and considered through the annual prioritisation process.
"Where there are compelling reasons for service developments to be commissioned due to patient benefit or cost effectiveness, these are considered on a case by case process."
3 Comments
by Andrew, Longton
Tuesday, July 21 2009, 9:30AM
“This will probably open up a whole new bag of worms. WHO, in their right minds called the trust a Primary CARE Trust, surely the word care is all about the welfare of a person.
This country is beyond belief. On the one hand we hear many stories of British people being refused drugs that will help to prolong their lives if not cure them, British people who in most cases have paid Tax & NI contributions for years and years only to be told that the drug is too expensive and your LIFE is not worth saving. Mrs Sowter is just another in a long line of British people who are refused drugs that will help to save their lives.
Is it any wonder that radical political groups like the BNP are growing in popularity, when they see what is going on around them?
Many people who were not born here and came as a refugee to live here were allowed to stay because their lives there were under threat, so being a caring nation we allowed this to happen, they came and they settled and many have become very successful and I for one do not think Britain would be what it was today without the skills that this multinational society has to offer. But a recent report stated that the refugees and asylum seekers here were not as well as off as were often reported and a lot of the stories were urban myth.
The thing is while some of the stories are, like the guys who go to the DHS to get a cheque for a new car etc, the truth is blatantly obvious.
We call ourselves a caring nation, and believe that these refugees cannot be sent home because it would infringe on their civil liberties as a human being. Bit our CARE TRUST, can decide who will live or die, surely this is in contradiction to our human rights, surely this is no different than homicide, or wilfully withholding medication so as to bring on death. Surely doctors are trained to save lives, what is the point of all this money being raised to fund the laboratories to find cures for cancer and other illnesses when as soon as the drug is released, people are refused them, on the grounds that they are too expensive.
So it will cost £83.49 a day for Mrs Sowters medication, I thought that the whole flag flying about the NHS was it was completely free, and yet we have a bunch of people who decide who lives or dies.
How much does it cost to keep a refugee or failed asylum seeker in prison when they have broken the law, don¿t send them to prison, just deport them, it would save a fortune, then Mrs Sowter and others would be able to have their much needed drugs. Or How much does it cost to keep a family of refugees in this country, what with free housing, free council tax, free health cover, that¿s doctors, dentists, hospitals, opticians, etc. plus free school dinners and income support as well, the family are entitled to this because like I said before we are a caring nation and the multi cultural society in Britain works fantastic, and hopefully in time they will contribute to our great nations success.
I don¿t know where I would be if it wasn¿t for the Doctors who were of all nationalities when I was ill. But we must treat people fairly and squarely, if we do not then we are a caring nation and PRIMARY CARE TRUST, must be renamed PRIMARY TRUST.
The rift between British and non British will only get worse as we continue our downward spiral as a caring nation for our own people and we continue to support people who have no real rights to what they are getting and ignoring those that do.
Something must be done now, nobody should be able to say whether or not someone shold live or die.
Just think how much money would actually be saved if the people who work at the primary care trust were sacked and their funding was taken away, no more meetings with free meals and company cars, I bet we could afford the drugs then.
On a last note, I wonder how many in the CARE trust would refuse medication to a patient if it was their son, daughter, wife, husband, mother or father. None I suspect.”
by Audrey, Stoke on Trent
Monday, July 20 2009, 11:43AM
“If the Consultant believe's this drug will be of benefit, to this lady, she should be prescribed it. I myself am taking a drug to prevent further breast cancer, which I understand only became agailable last year, sadly though I also lost my husband through cancer, being told there was 'no treatment' for him, therefore if a treatment is there, which even costs less, it should be allowed - Audrey”
by Audrey, Stoke
Monday, July 20 2009, 11:37AM
“Surely if the Consultant has said that the Dasatinib drug is likely to be of benefit and costs less, it should be made available to this lady, I myself am taking a drug to prevent further breast cancer, which I understand became available only last year, for which I am very grateful to be able to take, although sadly my husband died last year of cancer and was told there was no treatment for. I firmly believe if a drug can be of benefit it should be made available - Audrey”