Doddie vs Salmond
Rugby hero tackles former first minister on TV over MND drugs
IN his new role as a talk show host Alex Salmond usually does the grilling as he interviews guests.
But the tables were turned as Doddie Weir quizzed the former first minister over the SNP’s failure to approve drugs which could give him and fellow motor neurone disease sufferers more time with their families.
The Scottish rugby legend appeared on Mr Salmond’s RT show on Thursday, and turned on the ex-MP, saying attempts to improve treatment for MND sufferers were often met with a ‘closed door’.
He said as well as failing to bring forward medical trials, he felt medics were ‘not really helpful’ and his treatment often feels like ‘taking your car to the garage and you have to diagnose the issue’.
Last week the 47-year-old told of his anger after being denied use of French drug masitinib, which slows the onset symptoms of the fatal disease.
Mr Weir was diagnosed with MND in December 2016 and has launched a drive to find a cure for the condition, which attacks the muscles and nerves.
Life expectancy from the onset of symptoms is two to five years. In an attempt to buy more time with his wife Kathy and their three boys Mr Weir applied to use masitinib, but this was rejected.
He is now calling on the Scottish Government to work more closely with medics and follow the lead of countries such as the US in trialling more experimental drugs.
Mr Weir spoke about his rugby career – during which he earned 61 Scotland caps – and his diagnosis before addressing Mr Salmond.
He said: ‘I’d like to ask you a question, because when I got diagnosed the professor basically said there’s your nurses, go and see what you have to do. Since then its been like taking your brokendown car into the garage and you’ve got to diagnose the issue, and you’ve got to go fix it.
‘That’s been the frustrating thing, the medical profession have not really been that helpful on the drugs side of things to try to stop, to cure this issue.’
Mr Weir said the nurses working with him had been ‘fantastic’, adding: ‘There is only one drug available and that’s riluzole and it came out 22 years ago. That’s my frustration, there’s been no clinical trials in Scotland since, so the question has to be, did you know this was the case?’
Mr Salmond said he did not know there had not been a trial, adding: ‘It’s a rare condition and drugs companies tend to target their drug development at conditions they are going to sell to.’
But Mr Weir argued that while the condition was rare ‘it’s not a new condition’. He said: ‘It is a terminal illness at the moment. I’ve been putting a lot of my trust into my professors and doctors and we are always coming up against a closed door.
‘People want to try something, but it’s not happening here.’
Scottish Conservative health spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘Doddie Weir is absolutely right. We need to establish and deliver new patient drug trials to help make more progress a reality.’