news story

14th October 2008

MP speaks out in Parliament about Charfield man refused NHS treatment

Northavon MP Steve Webb today raised in Parliament the case of a local man who has been refused NHS treatment for kidney cancer.

Robert Derrick of Charfield has been refused the drug 'Sutent' by the Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust on the basis that it is not considered 'cost-effective' and that his circumstances are not sufficiently 'exceptional' to warrant him being given the treatment.

The drug costs around £3,500 per six week cycle and Mr. Derrick is now using his own savings to pay for the treatment, but he does not know how much longer he will be able to continue to pay. Mr Derrick and his wife saw local MP Steve Webb at his constituency surgery last week and the MP raised the case in a Parliamentary debate led by Doug Naysmith MP. Steve Webb said:

"This drug is available in most other European countries and also in other parts of this country. It is totally unacceptable that Robert Derrick is being turned down for funding simply because of where he lives. It is bad enough to be diagnosed as having kidney cancer, but to then be told that the treatment is not 'cost-effective' is the ultimate insult.

"Mr. Derrick has told me that he wants to have a positive attitude to the coming months, and even wants to be able to carry on working, but the battle over funding is proving draining for him and his family. I have already asked NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) to speed up their guidelines on the funding of Sutent, and have used the debate to ask the health minister to look again at the way these decisions are taken".

Steve Webb has also been in touch with the drug's manufacturers who will be asked to explore whether Mr. Derrick might be included in a clinical trial of the drug which would enable him to receive treatment free of charge.