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A kidney cancer victim says he may have to sell his treasured collection of motorbikes to pay for a drug not automatically available on the NHS.
Robert Derrick, 66, from Gloucestershire, must spend £4,000 a month of his life savings on Sutent.
Mr Derrick, of Charfield, South Gloucestershire, began his collection at the age of 19.But his money is running out and he may now have to part with six classic bikes – one of which dates from 1913.
The NHS is not obliged to pay for Sutent because its advisors says the drug does not provide value for money.
Mr Derrick, who runs a business making transfers and graphics for vintage and classic motorcycles, was diagnosed with kidney cancer five weeks ago.
His consultant told him about the benefits of Sutent – which can prolong the lives of kidney cancer victims – but warned that his local primary care trust (PCT) would not pay for the treatment.
The father-of-four, who has seven grandchildren and one on the way, was given the option of paying for it himself.
“I’m paying now myself for the drug and the worry of finding the funding is making me feel sick to the pit of my stomach,” he said.
When these PCTs turn people’s applications down, they are just giving them a death sentence
Marcia Derrick
“[I’m] worrying about when my savings will run out and when I have to start selling all my possessions just to stay alive.
“I have a collection of vintage motorcycles, it’s a lifetime collection.
“I’ve got one or two earmarked for grandsons, but it would be a tremendous wrench if I have to sell them before they could have them.”
He said: “A friend of mine was doing up an old Triumph, it was 12 to 15 years old at the time.
“I said we ought to get something really old, pre-war. I found a 1920s model in the breakers yard, so I bought it for seven pounds and 10 shillings and took it home.
“It was so old, it didn’t have clutch, you had to run and jump with it, then one bike led to another.”
Awaiting guidelines
Forty-seven years on, he now has six classic bikes, five dating between 1913 and 1926 and one which he bought brand new in 1966. He will not reveal their total value, but says it is in the tens of thousands of pounds.
With support from his local MP, Steve Webb, Mr Derrick is planning to apply for Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust to cover the cost of the drug.
The PCT said it was awaiting the full guidelines from National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) on the clinical effectiveness of Sutent and would then review its current policy.
A statement said: “It is important to stress that whilst we do not routinely fund this drug at this time, we always consider carefully any application from a patient’s doctor to fund a drug’s use in individual cases where it is believed there may be exceptional circumstances.
“It is also important to stress that a patient has the right of appeal should they be unhappy with the outcome of an review panel decision.”
‘Just so terrible’
Neighbouring Bristol PCT has funded at least one patient on appeal and primary care trusts in the north east of England and Birmingham have also been known to pay for the drug.
However, other sufferers’ hopes of being given Sutent on prescription were dealt a massive blow last week when NICE published draft guidelines saying it did not think cash would be wisely spent on giving out the drug.
Mr Derrick’s wife Marcia said: “The stress of it, just coming to terms with this terrible disease and at the same time, knowing that Robert is worried because he doesn’t want to leave me penniless, it’s just so terrible.
“When these PCTs turn people’s applications down, they are just giving them a death sentence.”
Source
https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bristol/7560103.stmI think thats terrible, but I think the drug companies are criminal to charge so much for these new treatments!
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