Tory joins the call for Scots access to Perjeta
BY VIVIENNE AITKEN v.aitken@dailyrecord.co.uk A BID to make wonder drug Perjeta available to all breast cancer sufferers has been backed by Tory MSP Miles Briggs, who lost his mum to the killer disease.
Miles, Conservative health spokesman at the Scottish Parliament, says he may have had more time with mum Joan if the drug had been available before she died in 1990.
He has called for Perjeta to be made available free on the NHS to all women who need it.
The drug – used to treat metastasised HER2 positive breast cancer – can extend a sufferer’s life by up to 16 months.
The Scottish Medicines Consortium have rejected its use on three occasions but it is available in England and Wales.
Miles said: “It’s heartbreaking that people in Scotland know a drug is there which can extend their time with their families but they can’t get access to it unless they have money or go to live in England. It is cruel.
“If my mum was starting her treatment now, my family would all try to club together to fund it.
“I’m in an incredibly lucky position of having a good salary as an MSP and my family would help or we would sell things.
“But people in deprived communities don’t have the ability to do that and statistics suggest they are more likely to have their cancer diagnosed later so they will already be at a disadvantage.
“We have to ask why people in other parts of the UK can get Perjeta and women here can’t.”
The last time Miles saw his mum, he was only seven and getting ready to go on a fun run at school.
He said: “The last thing she said to me was, ‘Off you go and do that run’. She died two or three days later.
“She was a farmer’s wife, had three kids and, as a person, was loving.
“She was fun and very caring. She cared for her aunts way beyond the call of duty but she was like that.”
Joan was aged 40 when she died. She left three children – Miles and his two older sisters, who were aged 11 and 15.
He added: “It’s such a lifechanging event but life does go on. When I graduated from university and after being elected as an MSP for the first time, I really missed her.
“I remember thinking, ‘What would she have made of my life and career choices?’
“All families have absent friends and family at Christmas, birthdays and weddings. That’s when you think, ‘What a shame’.
“The biggest thing that I get upset about is her missing seeing her grandchildren.
“One of my older sisters has two boys. They are real characters, who we all dote on, but mum never met them and never will.”
Miles said: “If Mum was alive today and discovered a lump, the opportunities for treatment and extended life and survival are far greater. As a country, we should be proud of that.
“I’ve spoken to a lot of people who would give every penny they had for just five minutes more.
“The idea that someone could live quite well for additional time is incredibly important for families.
“I’ve met people with secondary breast cancer who are desperate to get Perjeta because they want to see next Christmas or go to a daughter’s wedding or a graduation.
“When people are given a terminal diagnosis, they are acutely aware of death but what is more important to them is life.
“It’s about seeing friends and family and being able to make decisions in what time they’ve got. Some sons or daughters may bring forward a wedding so their mum can be there. That’s something Perjeta could provide.”
Campaigners have launched a petition calling for the SMC, Holyrood contract agents Scottish Procurement and drug manufacturers Roche to come together to help Scots women get access to Perjeta.
Sign it at www.breast cancernow.org/perjetanow