Morning:
8°c
NHS won't pay £3,000 for drug to save my life
Sophie Goodchild, Health and Social Affairs Correspondent17 Jun 2009
A trainee teacher has launched a legal fight against health bosses who are refusing to pay for her life-saving cancer therapy.
Philippa Bigham, 28, has two years to live unless she gets a pioneering cancer drug which finds and destroys diseased cells.
Surrey Primary Care Trust refuses to fund the £3,000 treatment, which costs less than it does on average to treat a patient in accident and emergency.
Surrey NHS managers ruled that Ms Bigham, from Frimley, is not an "exceptional" case - even though she has a rare form of blood cancer, primary refractory Hodgkin's lymphoma, which does not respond to conventional chemotherapy.
Her medical team at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead warned she needed the drug Basiliximab - or CHT-25 - before she could have a bone marrow transplant.
Next week her lawyers go to the High Court in a bid to force Surrey PCT to reconsider.
Some trusts are already paying for the drug, which is licensed for renal transplants but still on trial for other uses.
Ms Bigham, a graduate of Sussex University, today said the decision to deny her CHT-25 was "an insult".
She said: "The PCT managers are effectively telling me my life is not worth £3,000. Having to fight cancer is tough enough.
"Having to fight your own NHS trust for treatment which other people have already had is appalling. Why should I miss out just because I live in the wrong part of the country?
"They just told me I wasn't exceptional - I think most people would disagree. It costs between £1,500 and £2,000 to treat someone who turns up drunk at A&E yet I'm being told they can't fund my treatment."
Her parents Wendy and Robert agreed to pay the £3,000 - but have run out of money after also paying £13,000 for treatment in a lead-lined room at the Royal Free, which Surrey PCT also refused to fund.
Ms Bigham, an only child, said: "My parents are not wealthy but they've spent everything they can on my treatment. It's tough for me and heartbreaking for them."
Doctors diagnosed Ms Bigham in November 2006, soon after she started studying for a PGCE to be a secondary school English teacher.
She underwent six courses of chemotherapy before Dr Christopher McNamara, her consultant at the Royal Free, unsuccessfully recommended her for CHT-25.
Surrey PCT rejected an appeal in March - even though at least four trusts, Lincolnshire, Lanarkshire, North Yorkshire and York, fund the drug.
A bone marrow donor has been identified but the transplant cannot go ahead without the drug treatment.
Surrey PCT said it appreciated Ms Bigham's appeal was "stressful" and "hugely disappointing" for her.
It said: "All decisions on funding for high-cost treatments are made according to each patient's needs.
"Individual funding decisions are not made on financial grounds. Funding for unlicensed drugs is fully considered on individual clinical need."
Reader views (16)
RIP Philippa Bigham, sad as it is this case shows that with Cancer it is a lottery. Philippa had the drug, her parents paid 16k for it and she died in 9 months. A good friend of mine was diagnosed with stage 4, it was awful, he had lumps everywhere and had the look of death. He was given 3 months to live, he was told that chemo might extend this to 6 months. He had no siblings so a bone marrow transplant was not an option. He decided not to have chemo but instead went for an alternative therapy called Gerson. I was sceptical expecting some rip off factor but he was donated everything. Treatment was difficult but his white blood cell count improved, he relaxed the therapy at 1 year but got worse. He then went back to full treatment and again improved, this time he stuck with it and at three years he was finally clear of the cancer. Nobody can say if this would have helped Philippa but if you have the same choices (finding out at stage 4) then consider the gerson therapy. RIP Phillipa
- David Palmer, London, 30/07/2010 10:02
Report abuse
My mum, nurse Gretta, was refused Erbitux by Surrey PCT last Autumn. My mum had bowel cancer but because she got the hospital superbug C Difficile she couldn't have chemo for several months so her cancer situation got worse. However Surrey PCT deemed this not exceptional. The drug cost £12K. the Chief Exec of Surrey PCT earns more than the basic salary for the Prime Minister of Britain! surrey PCT need the money to pay all their pointless penpushers. DISGUSTING.
- Robert Brennan, Ashtead Surrey, 18/06/2009 16:42
Report abuse
I cannot believe the NHS are holding back on this life-saving drug, particularly as a bone marrow donor has been identified. Pip makes an excellent point about the treatment dispensed freely in A&E on a regular basis and while I agree we should all have access to emergency care, there are some lines to be drawn in the sand and some valuable lessons to be learned here. The motto of the NHS when it was set up 60 years ago was "From the cradle to the grave" - don't make the journey an unfairly short one for some people. Pip's Mum and Dad have been fantastic and so has she. It's time the NHS showed how great they can be in times of crisis.
- Wummy, Elstead, Surrey, 18/06/2009 11:51
Report abuse
Pip is a good friend of mine and she is a courageous person who has remained positive all the way through her fight with cancer. I just can't believe that her PCT can just turn round and say they won't pay £3000 for life saving drugs, a relatively small cost compared with other treatments for non life saving/cosmetic surgery. I admire you immensely Pip and will be with you all the way.
- Dawn, Hornchurch, 18/06/2009 10:06
Report abuse
Come on Pip, we all support you in your legal fight
to publicize this ridiculous and disgraceful state of affairs! Of course you should have the treatment.No question, absolutely no question.
- Susan, Brighton, 17/06/2009 17:36
Report abuse
With all the unnecessary operations carried out by the NHS, this is why there is no money left for the likes of poor Philippa, who has through no fault of her own contracted cancer. It can't spend £3,000 to treat this poor girl but can dish out gastric band operations. Where's the sense in that?
The NHS wasn't set up for cosmetic surgery or infertility treatment and all the other non-life threatening operations it seems to give priority to. Let's get back to what Bevan originally intended - saving lives.
- Sonia M., St Albans, Herts, 17/06/2009 16:59
Report abuse
This is what you get when you leave idiots in charge of the country. Billions has been spent on healthcare and this is where we are. There is no point comparing patients though as every terminal patient deserves sympathy whether they are a t-total vegan or a 21 stone alcoholic.
- Mark, London, 17/06/2009 16:51
Report abuse
Yet they will pay £4,000 for a 17 year old vain little girl to have breast enhancement because she's jealous of all her friends having bigger breasts than her ? Another example of Balir's/Brown's Britain and ridiculous rules and regulations !!! Roll on the next general election.
- Kay, London, 17/06/2009 12:56
Report abuse
It occurs to me that someone who turns up at A&E with alcohol poisoning actually has a self inflicted injury. A similar statement could be made about smokers or the clinically obese who develop heart disease or lung cancer.
If the resources of the NHS aren't great enough to treat everyone, let these people die instead.
- Tobin, Andover, 17/06/2009 12:53
Report abuse
Nigel, with the treatment and subsequent bone marrow transplant her chances are actually very high. I agree the NHS resources are not infinite, but it is incredibly unfair that people who smoke and drink are afforded lung and liver transplants at a much greater cost, when Philippa is denied. This is not a system working justly.
- Helen, London, 17/06/2009 12:14
Report abuse
One should bear in mind, it's not a drug that will save her life, but one that might save her life. The chance is quite small. The NHS's budget is not infinite.
However, it's not right that some trusts offer this drug and others don't. We all pay for the NHS in the same way through our taxes. We should all have equal rights to any particular treatment based only on the medical facts (even if that right sometimes has to be a denial on the basis of effectiveness and affordability).
- Nigel, London, 17/06/2009 10:59
Report abuse
This is a basic insult to human life. Noone has the right to play God and 'pick and choose' one life over another. Fight them all the way Philippa. Not just for yourself, but for the thousands of others who may not have the strength to fight. Best of luck, and speedy recovery.
- Jc, London, 17/06/2009 10:46
Report abuse
Sad day for Britain - A bamboo bike (another article) or drugs for this lady. It should be drugs without queston!
- Dave Davies, Basingstoke, Hants, 17/06/2009 10:09
Report abuse
This is disgusting, we may as well halt the development of new Medicines, Surrey PCT should be shutdown and restarted using a quarter of the staff and buildings,after all its just another dammed health service quango, so there you are, raised the money at a stroke, "give the lady her medication", maybe a good investigative journalist could find more savings at Surrey PCT?.
- David Crocket, Bradford UK, 17/06/2009 09:27
Report abuse
Welcome to the Nu Liebour NHS Trust, if it's too expensive (more than £5) then you can't have it but we'll give you a winnie the pooh plaster to make you feel better.
- Bob, Cheam, 17/06/2009 08:56
Report abuse
Absolutely disgraceful - Surrey NHS managers should have a rethink. How much do the NHS spend on non-UK citizens or paying suspended employees? Contrast this refusal to fund treatment with the amounts spent on legal aid for Abu Hamza and Abu Qatada and other low lifes who have the "right" to such aid. Britain is sinking fast.
- Ab, London, 17/06/2009 08:28
Report abuse
