EK firm steps in to import cannabis oil
An East Kilbride pharmaceutical company has become the first in Scotland to legally import cannabis oil to treat Cole Thomson.
The News told how Cole’s ex-cop mum Lisa Quarrell illegally smuggled the drug Bedrolite from Holland in a desperate bid to save her son’s life.
The six-year-old Canberra Primary pupil suffers from drug resistant focal epilepsy and, before taking the oil, endured up to 16 seizures a night.
After watching a recent TV documentary featuring the desperately ill Newlandsmuir youngster languishing in hospital, the firm, who import specialist drugs from all over the world, stepped in to help.
And last week they imported the first Bedrocan oils into Scotland for six-year-old Cole, who is now 115 days seizure-free.
Lisa said this latest development is a “huge relief ” in what has been an “exhausting” yearlong fight for access to medical cannabis.
The 37-year-old mum-of-two said: “I am absolutely delighted.
“I was having to travel to London every month to pick up a private prescription so this is a huge weight off me.
“Cole has now went over 100 days without a seizure. This is the longest time he’s went without having one since after having brain surgery.
“This is massive and is absolutely down to the cannabis oil. Now, on the back of the documentary, we have a route into Scotland – the first time Bedrocan products have been legally imported into this country. So I can now pick up Cole’s medicine from a local pharmacy and don’t have to travel to London or risk smuggling it over from the Netherlands.
“And they are discussing how to take things forward to help more families, it’s incredible.”
The local company are importing the medical cannabis ‘at cost’ for Cole and Edinburgh boy Murray Gray which means they won’t be making any money off families of the sick children they help.
And they have agreed to set up an access programme to allow other families with prescriptions to obtain unlicensed cannabis oils.
Lisa’s importer, who wanted to remain anonymous, told us: “After watching the documentary and realising Cole was from East Kilbride, as a local company, we wanted to step forward and help make things easier for Lisa and Cole.
“We can confirm that last week we imported the first Bedrocan Oils into Scotland for Cole. We are not doing this for profit, we just want to help out.
“We have agreed to establish an access programme to allow other families with prescriptions to obtain supplies of these medicines.”
But, even at cost price, a 10ml bottle of Bedrolite is £170 and lasts just four days.
It costs Lisa about £700 a month, which she is sourcing from donations through fundraising events. Murray’s mum Karen’s monthly bill comes in at £1500.
Both mothers are calling on Scottish Health Secretary Jeane Freeman to authorise compassionate funding” for the drug from NHS Scotland.
Lisa, a UNISON Lothian Health worker, added: “We cannot continue to pay this kind of money, it’s unmanageable. The stress needs to be taken off us.
“I had to break the law to expose this shocking system and save my son. As a cop for 10 years, this shows something isn’t right.
“There are two children on an NHS prescription right now who are thriving. Why should my child suffer while it takes the government time to put things in place? It shouldn’t be a postcode lottery. I just want to enjoy my son and get on with our lives.”