Bristol Evening Post (KC) 07-Aug-08
From Kidney Cancer Resource
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NHS advised not to fund kidney cancer drugs
PATIENTS with advanced kidney cancer will be denied four treatments on the NHS under new guidelines published today. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) issued draft guidance rejecting a bid to ensure drugs Sutent, Avastin, Nexavar and Torisel are available to all patients on the NHS.
Jack Rosser of Kingswood, Bristol.
It is a devastating blow to Jack Rosser, 56, of Kingswood, who was diagnosed with kidney cancer three days after daughter, Emma, was born last July. He said Sutent was his only hope of seeing his Emma go to school.
On Tuesday he lost his appeal against South Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust's decision not to pay for the drug.
PCTs can decide to fund expensive drugs in "exceptional" cases but now Nice has issued draft guidance on the four treatments, patients with advanced kidney cancer are unlikely to get them unless they pay for them themselves.
If the drugs had been approved, all PCTs would have been obliged to pay for them. Mr Rosser has been without active treatment for six months.
His wife Jenny said: "I couldn't stop crying when the PCT phoned us with the decision. They said Jack was no different to any other patient with advanced kidney cancer.
"All we want is for Jack to be able to have a drug to enable him to fight the disease.
"They are saying that his life is not worth £30,000. We are all completely devastated.
"They would not listen to our arguments, that Jack has a right to life.
"They are sending him home to die – it's tantamount to murder.
"I hold them responsible."
Mr Rosser, who served in the Royal Navy for nine years, was diagnosed after he went to his doctor about what he believed was "a popped rib".
A scan found a tumour in his kidney and the pain was caused by the cancer spreading to his bones.
Last month the Evening Post told how another patient, 55-year-old Gary Humphries, from Knowle, won an appeal for Sutent.
Patients already on the drugs can continue to receive them until they and their doctors consider it appropriate to stop, the Nice guidance says.
Another kidney cancer patient, Robert Derrick, of Charfield, recently told the Post he was considering selling his vintage motorbike collection to pay for Sutent, which costs £4,000 a month. But NHS rules mean Mr Derrick would have to pay for all his treatment, not just the drugs.
His daughter, Sarah Seeger, said: "The strain of going through the process of trying to get Sutent is worse than the actual diagnosis. "If my father was in a high- dependency bed no one would question whether it was cost effective to keep him there.
"Lots of people need medical help that costs more than £4,000 a month. I can't believe this is the way we treat cancer patients in this country." Charities have expressed outrage at the guidelines, saying it left patients only one option – interferon – to which many do not respond. The guidance, which is subject to appeal, says the drugs are not cost effective for advanced kidney cancer patients.
Professor Peter Littlejohns, clinical and public health director at Nice, said: "The decisions Nice has to make are some of the hardest in public life. NHS resources are not limitless and Nice has to decide what treatments represent best value to the patient as well as the NHS."
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