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Cross-party call to help those affected
PARENTS and carers of children with epilepsy have been fighting a battle for years to win the right for them to be treated with medical cannabis.
While certain medicines made with the drug are now legal, some remain nigh on impossible to obtain via the NHS.
Cannabis oil – which has been shown to help children with the most severe form of epilepsy – can cost more than £1000 a month for parents who resort to buying it on the private market.
Although medicines containing THC like cannabis oil can be prescribed in the UK, doctors are largely refusing to do so, saying there is not enough evidence they are safe or work.
It has now emerged there have been no new NHS prescriptions for full-extract cannabis oil since the medicinal use of the drug was legalised more than 18 months ago.
But listening to parents, it’s clear the substance can make a huge difference in terms of quality of life for some youngsters.
Scots mum Lisa Quarrell says the cannabis oil that she buys for her epileptic son has saved his life.
In May, she was told that NHS Scotland would still not pay for the cannabis oil drug. It’s simply not good enough.
These drugs have changed lives for the better and they must be made available more widely to parents.
HEALTH Secretary Matt Hancock was last night urged to tear up red tape campaigners say is hampering prescriptions of medical cannabis for children with rare epilepsy.
There have been no new NHS prescriptions for full-extract cannabis oil since the medicinal use of the drug was legalised more than 18 months ago.
Experts say strict guidelines make it difficult to get hold of the treatment on the NHS.
Full-extract cannabis oil imported from the Netherlands has continued to be prescribed on the health service to just two children with rare forms of epilepsy – Alfie Dingley and Sophia Gibson.
The Home Office handed them emergency interim licences in summer 2018 following a campaign.
Some families denied the free medicine can end up paying up to £2000 a month to buy it through private prescriptions. MPs from across the political divide have written to Hancock “to raise serious concerns about the lack of availability of cannabis oil for patients who need it, 18 months after it was legalised for medicinal use”.
Their letter says: “Restrictive prescribing rules are forcing parents to pay thousands of pounds to get their children the medicine they need.
“Many are simply unable to afford it, leaving them helpless to prevent their children enduring awful seizures.” Signatories include Labour,
Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Scottish National Party and Green MPs.
Edinburgh West MP and Lib Dem home affairs spokeswoman Christine Jardine, who organised the letter, said: “Despite ‘winning’ this fight back in 2018, people – including young children – are still being denied access to this potentially life-changing treatment.
“The red tape around prescribing medical cannabis must be lifted as a matter of urgency.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We sympathise with patients dealing with challenging conditions and the decision on whether to prescribe medicinal cannabis is ultimately one for clinicians to make.
“Since the law changed, two cannabisbased medicines have been made available for prescribing on the NHS for patients with multiple sclerosis or hard to treat epilepsies, where clinically appropriate.
“However, more evidence is needed to prescribe other treatments on the NHS and we continue to back further research and look at how to minimise costs.”