South Wales Argus (KC) 24-Sep-08
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Grandad's fight for cancer drug
By Debbie Green »
A CHEPSTOW grandfather refused a life-prolonging cancer drug on the NHS took his campaign to the Assembly yesterday.
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Christopher Lewis
Chris Lewis, 54, of Pwllmeyric, was diagnosed with terminal kidney cancer, which had spread to his spine and lung, in May and was told he probably has less than two years to live.
In August, his consultant recommended Sutent, a drug which Mr Lewis says could prolong his life for a minimum of six months.
A year's course costs around £21,000. But Monmouthshire Local Health Board has refused to fund it.
Approval for the use of Sutent was rejected last month in draft guidance from the NHS drugs-approval body the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice).
A final decision is expected soon.
Dozens of kidney cancer patients protested outside Nice's central London headquarters last month against its refusal to approve drugs such as Sutent which it had deemed not cost effective.
Yesterday Mr Lewis met Conservative AMs in the Senedd and passed on a letter to Health Minister Edwina Hart, asking for the drug to be made available on the NHS to anyone whose life would be prolonged as a result.
Mr Lewis now says that if he was offered the drug, he would only accept it if this becomes available to all it could benefit.
He said: "This is not about Chris Lewis, this is a matter of morals. You just can't put a cost on a human life.
"Why develop a drug if you don't intend to supply it?"
For Mr Lewis, the extra six months the drug could provide could make all the difference.
He already has four grandchildren, and is expecting another in April next year.
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(KCR ed. New research shows the drug can give upto 22 months further life with quality -
see Press Release on this web site under Sutent)
Angela Jones, director of joint commissioning at Monmouthshire Local Health Board, said she could not comment on individual cases.
But she said guidance had been issued on Sutent by NICE and the Assembly's All Wales Medicine Strategy Group.
"In both cases that particular drug is not recommended," she said.
"We would follow the guidance of the All Wales Medicine Strategy Group and of NICE in coming to a view around this drug.
"Clearly we would consider a patient if they are exceptional or somehow different."
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