MOTHER-OF-TWO Bernice Sowter has won her fight to be treated with a drug which will save her life.

The leukaemia sufferer lost her appeal to be given Dasatinib on the NHS last month, even though the drug was cheaper than the medication she was already on.

Mrs Sowter was taking Imatinib, which costs the NHS £104.27 per day. Her consultant at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire told her she needed to switch to Dasatinib, which would cost £83.49 per day. But primary care trust (PCT) NHS North Staffordshire refused.

However, the PCT has now done a U-turn and agreed to fund the drug for all patients who need it.

Bernice, aged 44, said: "It is a huge weight off my mind. The doctors are going to monitor my condition and hopefully the drugs will do the trick."

Trainee solicitor Mrs Sowter was originally prescribed Imatinib, one of the latest drugs to receive approval from the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (Nice).

But after starting a course of medication, Mrs Sowter was found to be one of about 20 per cent of acute myeloid leukaemia sufferers who are resistant to Imatinib. She was initially refused Dasatinib because it had not received a licence from Nice – despite tests confirming that it will control her leukaemia.

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. Although she will have the illness for life, now that her condition is being managed by Dasatinib she should lead a virtually normal life.

Untreated, her leukaemia would kill her.

Newcastle MP Paul Farrelly, who has taken Mrs Sowter's fight to the PCT, said: "I'm absolutely delighted for Bernice and her family. I'm also pleased that the PCT responded so quickly to make sure the right decision was reached in this case without going through any more bureaucracy."

A spokesman for NHS North Staffordshire said: "All patients in North Staffordshire will now receive Dasatinib if they meet the clinical criteria."

The spokesman said that after Mrs Sowter's initial appeal was denied, the decision was referred for a review.

He added: "The review concluded that the benefits to patients and the value for money that treatment with Dasatinib offered, compared to the alternative treatments already commissioned by the PCT, were significant.

"As a result, the PCT now routinely commissions treatment with Dasatinib for all patients likely to benefit from it."

Now Mrs Sowter – who passed her law exams just after discovering she had lost her original appeal for Dasatinib – hopes to forge a career helping others in the same situation.

She said: "It's so difficult to be in that position, where you are fighting for treatment. I would like to think I can give something back and help others."