A woman who today began a landmark legal battle to get the breast cancer drug Herceptin on the NHS said a decision to deny her the medication amounted to "a death sentence".
Ann Marie Rogers is challenging Swindon primary care trust (PCT) in the first court case against a decision not to provide the drug, which is said to halve the chances of the aggressive Her2 form of breast cancer recurring.
Today, Ian Wise, appearing for Ms Rogers, asked a judge to declare "arbitrary and unlawful" the PCT's policy of only providing Herceptin in "exceptional cases".
Mr Wise told Mr Justice Bean, sitting in London, that Ms Rogers had said in a statement she felt "as though I have been given a punishment like a death sentence".
Ms Rogers, who has "a 57% chance of her breast cancer recurring in 10 years", also stated that "waiting for the cancer to return is like waiting on death row". She added: "I know that if it comes back it will be terminal."
Ms Rogers, 53, a former restaurant manager from Swindon, has already borrowed £5,000 for Herceptin treatments but says she cannot afford to fund further courses. If the mother-of-two wins her case, the NHS could be forced to pay for the £22,000-a-year drug for hundreds of women with breast cancer.
The case is the first of its kind to reach court after other primary care trusts, faced with threats of legal action, agreed to fund the treatment.
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Ann Marie Rogers is challenging Swindon primary care trust (PCT) in the first court case against a decision not to provide the drug, which is said to halve the chances of the aggressive Her2 form of breast cancer recurring.
Today, Ian Wise, appearing for Ms Rogers, asked a judge to declare "arbitrary and unlawful" the PCT's policy of only providing Herceptin in "exceptional cases".
Mr Wise told Mr Justice Bean, sitting in London, that Ms Rogers had said in a statement she felt "as though I have been given a punishment like a death sentence".
Ms Rogers, who has "a 57% chance of her breast cancer recurring in 10 years", also stated that "waiting for the cancer to return is like waiting on death row". She added: "I know that if it comes back it will be terminal."
Ms Rogers, 53, a former restaurant manager from Swindon, has already borrowed £5,000 for Herceptin treatments but says she cannot afford to fund further courses. If the mother-of-two wins her case, the NHS could be forced to pay for the £22,000-a-year drug for hundreds of women with breast cancer.
The case is the first of its kind to reach court after other primary care trusts, faced with threats of legal action, agreed to fund the treatment.
Source