CANCER MUM’S DRUG AGONY
Seriously ill patient pays thousands for lifeline treatment that’s sold in England for a fraction of the cost
A mum fighting cancer faces running out of money she needs to pay for a drug vital to keeping her alive.
Linzi Page, 37, pays £1400 for a cycle of Avastin – even though NHS patients in England get the treatment at a fraction of the cost.
She said: “I’m really worried.”
A mum fighting incurable cancer faces running out of money for a life- extending drug available in England at a fraction of the cost.
Linzi Page, 37, has been forced to pay £1400 every three weeks for Avastin, a treatment unfunded on the NHS that is keeping tumours in her bowel, liver and lung at bay.
The medicine is giving her precious time with husband Mark, son Calan, six, and three- year- old daughter Charlotte, after she was given two years to live in April 2018.
But Linzi, of Burntisland in Fife, will soon no longer be able to pay NHS Fife for the drug that she believes is keeping her alive.
And she has been left devastated to find patients in some English and Welsh health boards are being given access to Avastin for as little as £350 a cycle, while she is charged four times as much.
She has been forced to launch an online appeal to raise money for the treatment before she runs out of funds.
Linzi said: “For now my cancer is under control with the help of Avastin but I’m really worried that I’m going to run out of money.
“The crowdfunder has been great and people have been incredibly generous, but it’s clearly not going to last forever.
“Avastin should be available on the NHS. I know it’s giving me time with my family but I have accepted having to pay for it.
“I can’t understand how people in different parts of the country are getting access to it for a quarter of the price that I’m paying.
“It can’t be fair that a patient in London or Wales pays between £350 and £450 while I’m charged £1400.”
Linzi was initially told she probably had irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) when she saw her doctor.
Three months later she was sent for an urgent colonoscopy and she was later diagnosed with stage four metastatic bowel cancer.
At the time she was given two years to live.
A vast in hasn’ t been recommended for use by the Scottish Medicines Consortium
(SMC) or the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in England, so isn’t available for free on the NHS.
However, patients can access the drug through their health board by paying for it privately.
The NHS in England and Scotland have separate bargaining units who have struck their own deals with pharma firm Roche on a price for their health boards.
Avastin, also known as Bevacizumab, works by cutting off a tumour’s blood and oxygen supply.
Linzi added: “I’m determined to do everything I can to fight for as much time with my family as possible.
“It’s soul- destroying to know that there are treatments that can help but aren’t available on the NHS because of money.” Labour health spokeswoman Monica Lennon has called for Avastin to be provided free on the NHS.
She said: “Linzi has faced her cancer journey with great courage but it’s wrong that her postcode and ability to pay for treatment could determine how much time she has with her children.
“The Scottish Government should be moving mountains to ensure Scottish cancer patients have at least the same access to Avastin as people in England and Wales. It’s not right that every three weeks Linzi is paying as much as £1000 more than patients in England because health boards there negotiated a better deal.
“This is an extreme health injustice that must be ended urgently.”
Bowel cancer is Scotland’s second biggest cancer killer.
About 3700 people are diagnosed with the condition every year but only about 200 are under 50 years old.
Dr Lisa Wilde, director of research and external affairs at Bowel Cancer UK, said: “Avastin is not approved for NHS use in England and Wales by
Nice, or in Scotland by the SMC.
“Patients can therefore only access the drug as a self-funded private patient or as a partial ‘top-up’ in addition to NHS treatment, such as chemotherapy.
“As a result, regional variations in pricing exist across health boards and trusts in the UK.
“Once bowel cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it makes it much harder to treat.
“The NHS offers some treatments for advanced bowel cancer patients, but our research shows that not everything that may be clinically beneficial to patients is available.
“Having private insurance sometimes unlocks access to a broader range of drugs for patients – and while they won’t benefit everyone, options for treating stage four bowel cancer are important.
“That’s why we would like to see all patients have access to the same treatment options, whether they’re using the NHS or have access to a private provider, and campaign for best treatment and care for all bowel cancer patients.”
NHS Fife director of pharmacy and medicines Scott Garden said Linzi was being charged the price it incurred from Roche.
He added: “After exploring all funded treatments, some patients make the decision to privately purchase medicines not avai lable via NHS funding.
“The pricing of these medicines are negotiated by NHS National Procurement, who lead procurement of all medicines on behalf of Scottish NHS boards.
“The price charged to patients in Fife for such medicines is the cost price, no administrative charges are attached.”
A spokeswoman for the SMC, which clears drugs for use on the NHS, insisted that because Avastin wasn’t recommended, pricing was at the discretion of health boards.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We work closely with the independent SMC and NHS Scotland to improve access to new medicines. The latest pricing agreement with the pharmaceutical industry supports the principle of price parity across the UK.” A spokeswoman for NHS National Services Scotland said Avastin was supplied to all health boards in Scotland by Roche at the same price through a Patient Access Scheme set up in conjunction with the SMC.
A spokesman for Roche said: “Unfortunately Avastin has not been approved for use in bowel cancer by both the SMC and NICE.
“We are not responsible for what private patients in England, and top- up patients in Scotland, are charged to receive it.”
Help Linzi at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/linzisarmy
I know it is giving me time with my family. I have accepted having to pay for it