Drug ruling makes cancer man pay up

By [lchurchill]

A FORMER serviceman who has been denied a life-extending drug by the Devon Primary Care Trust (PCT) will have his case reviewed today.

Stuart Rickard, 63, from Woolsery has been fighting kidney cancer — and found a drug which he believes could extend his life for two to three years.

He has been privately funding his treatment on the drug Sutent, which costs around £3,600 for a six week session.

A scan has shown the drug has been slowing down the growth of his tumour.

But so far the Devon PCT has refused to pay for the drug.

This week it confirmed that the decision to deny him free access to the drug will go back to the Individual Patient Funding Panel to be looked at again.

The retired father of two and his wife, Margaret, have faced the financial challenge of paying for the drug.

Margaret said: "The only complaint we have is regarding the funding. The support we have had from all the professionals, including our doctors in Bradworthy, the hospital and the North Devon Hospice has been tremendous and second to none."

The drug company have given the couple a free sample and fund-raising will allow Stuart a second six-week session and part of a third.

But Margaret, a former teacher, fears if the decision goes against them they may have to start selling their belongings to pay for treatment.

Stuart began suffering problems with his kidneys in 2005. The following year a kidney was taken out and it was discovered to be cancerous. The cancer had spread to his liver.

He began taking a drug called Interferon, along with homeopathic treatment, which his wife, Margaret, says has a very low success rate, but was the only available treatment at the time.

The cancer seemed to have cleared up, but in October 2008 a routine scan showed a cancerous tumour in the pit of the kidney.

Stuart decided to use the Interferon for a second time but this time it had bad side effects.

So Stuart turned to Sutent Sunitinib, a new drug his doctors wanted him to try, and in December the growth of the tumour was slowing down.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) recently approved Sutent for renal cancer patients who had never been treated with any other drug for the cancer.

This meant that patients like Stuart, who had already received other treatments such as Interferon, could not receive Sutent.

A spokesman for the Devon PCT said that the decision referring Stuart's treatment was made before the new guidance by NICE was issued.

He said: "Further to concerns being raised, Devon PCT has referred the original clinical decision back to the Individual Patient Funding Panel."

The NICE decision was hailed as "extremely disappointing" by Macmillan Cancer Support, who believed it would prevent thousands of people with kidney cancer getting drugs that could extend their lives.

The charity is in the process of appealing against NICE's decision.

Mike Hobday, head of policy at Macmillan, said: "These drugs could make a significant impact on the quality of life for kidney cancer patients, and it is a great shame that the manufacturers and the Department of Health could not agree on patient access schemes to make these drugs available to patients."

Stuart's family have received enormous support from their friends in Woolsery and the surrounding villages.

Stuart was involved with the village's pantomime earlier this year and an additional performance was put on to raise funds for his treatment.