Associated Press (KC) 23-Oct-08
From Kidney Cancer Resource
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Green light for cancer drug funding
A cancer patient will receive funding for a potentially life-prolonging drug after her local Primary Care Trust overturned a previous decision not to finance the medicine.
Jean & her husband amongst friends protesting at N.I.C.E. 27-Aug-08
Grandmother Jean Murphy, 63, who has kidney cancer, spent six months unsuccessfully battling Salford Primary Care Trust's decision not to pay for the powerful Sutent drug.
After receiving an anonymous donation to obtain the medication privately, Mrs Murphy has been taking the drug for two months and the cancerous tumour has shrunk by over 50%.
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'Following the treatment's success'
Following the treatment's success, the trust has now reversed its original decision and is set to fund the drug on the NHS from Monday for as long as necessary.
Mrs Murphy, who is the sole carer of her seriously ill husband, said: "I feel absolutely over the moon with this decision. All the stress, worry and insecurity have gone.
"I want to thank Salford PCT for finally coming to their senses and funding the drugs I need.
"I still want to help other people, I have said this from the beginning and I will continue to fight for others who are being denied treatment from other PCTs."
The Sutent drug, which costs around £3,500 per month, is being tested for kidney cancer and stomach tumours but is not yet widely available on the NHS.
Mrs Murphy's campaign went as far as London's High Court, but despite a judge telling the commissioning panel to reconsider its decision in July, the trust opted to refuse the funding for a third time.
A spokeswoman for Salford PCT said: "Although the PCT turned down Mrs Murphy's application for Sutent, a decision subsequently supported by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), the PCT has remained in contact with Mrs Murphy's doctors at The Christie. The decision to fund Mrs Murphy's ongoing treatment was made after the PCT received a letter from Professor Robert Hawkins on October 14, 2008 advising the PCT that Mrs Murphy had responded unusually well to the drug Sutent, and was fortunate to be one of the minority of patients for whom this drug is effective."
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