MP backs medical cannabis use for those like Teagan

Campaign raised in House of Commons

A campaign to get Nhs-prescribed medication for a child with severe epilepsy has been highlighted in Parliament.

Teagan Appleby, who lives in Aylesham, can only obtain the treatment through a private prescription, so her family have to raise £2,000 a month for it.

Teagan’s case was one of the first Natalie Elphicke dealt with after she was elected as Dover MP in December 2019, and now the politician has raised it in the Commons.

Teagan’s medication, containing a marijuana-derived substance, has helped control her fits, which previously occurred up to 300 daily.

With this and other medicines, the fits are down to less than 10 aday.

Mrs Elphicke stressed that the 12-year-old needed “vital medicine”.

She told the House of Commons: “Teagan needs medical cannabis to improve her serious health condition. Without it, she suffers from fits. With it, she is so much better.

“That is why I support the prescription of medical cannabis on the NHS for little Teagan and the other children who clearly need it.

“I pay tribute to Teagan’s mum Emma, who has been a tireless and energetic campaigner on behalf of her daughter to get the treatment that she needs.”

Teagan suffers from a rare genetic condition called Idic15.

Epilepsy can come as part of this and Teagan has a very severe case called Lennox Gastaut Syndrom.

She is able to have medicinal cannabis after the law changed to allow this in 2018.

Her parents, Lee Moore and

Emma Appleby, used to travel to Holland to collect her medication, a preparation called Bedrolite, at a cost of £2,500 per month. That could be done with the right documentation.

The couple were stopped several times and had the medication confiscated but later returned.

Teagan’s medicines are now imported legally from Israel.

Last month her parents went to Parliament to demand the necessary medicinal cannabis be put on the NHS.

A government spokesman then said: “The government has already changed the law to allow specialist doctors to prescribe cannabis-based products, where clinically appropriate and in the best interests of patients.

“Licensed cannabis-based medicines are funded by the NHS where there is clear evidence of their quality, safety and effectiveness.”