Cancer victim in plea for vital drug

Aug 2 2007 By Diane Parkes, Birmingham Mail

A FORMER nurse is being denied a potentially life-saving anti-cancer drug by the very health organisation she worked for.

Christine Jarvis, of Sutton Coldfield, has been told Velcade is her only hope in stemming the tide of the incurable bone cancer multiple myeloma - but Birmingham East and North Primary Care Trust is refusing to fund the drug.

Mrs Jarvis, aged 55, has tried other drugs and treatments without success and has been told Velcade, which costs approximately £18,000 per year, is her only hope.

The family were initially refused the drug by the PCT and went to unsuccessfully appeal.

Diagnosed last year, Mrs Jarvis has seen her weight drop from nine to under six stone and finds it increasingly difficult to lead a normal life.

Her husband Neil, a 59-year-old engineering director, said the refusal of the appeal now leaves them desperate.

"She is a great survivor with a fantastic spirit and has pulled through so far," he said. "But it is really difficult. We shouldn't be having to fight for a drug at a time like this.

"The consultant has said that the drugs she is currently taking will only hold off the illness for another three to six months.

"We feel we are pleading for her life, it is exactly that. We are bitterly disappointed by the decision and are now on a knife edge."

And while Mr Jarvis does not expect any special treatment he said the family is particularly saddened because his wife gave so many years to the health service.

"She was a district nurse with the NHS for 37 years and actually worked for the PCT which is now refusing to fund the drug."

Birmingham East and North PCT spokeswoman Anna Shaw said that the trust cannot comment on individual cases but added that every appeal is considered on an individual basis by a panel of clinicians, lay members of the PCT and commissioning staff.

"The PCT would advise any patient who does have concerns about any aspect of their healthcare to contact the Patient Advice and Liaison Service on freephone 0800 328 3205," she said.