Cannabis oil mum in NHS lifeline plea
Family struggle to pay for vital drugs
A mum whose son uses cannabis oil to stop him suffering seizures wants to use an NHS charity fund to pay for his treatment.
Lisa Quarrell, 39, says son Cole Thomson’s Bedrolite medication costs the family £1200 every month. Former police officer Lisa wants to use NHS endowment funds to pay for his supply. The charity funds are given to the NHS by donations from the public.
Cole, eight, suffers from a rare form of epilepsy. But the coronavirus epidemic has stopped charity fundraisers which were helping pay for his private prescription. Lisa, of East Kilbride, had applied to NHS Lanarkshire’s endowment fund earlier this year but was turned down because it said surgery was an alternative to drug treatment. But consultants have now said surgery could leave Cole paralysed.
Lisa said: “Cole has been seizurefree for 15 months due to Bedrolite.
“Coronavirus has made it far harder to raise money to pay for it. The fundraising nights we were holding have stopped and it’s a month-to-month battle to pay y for it between me and his dad.
“Because Cole is growing, we e need more. It’s costing us £1200 a month instead of £1000.
“We were turned down earlier this year through the
NHS Lanarkshire endowment fund. The charity said it’s because he could get surgery but doctors now say that’s too risky. Surgery could leave him TREATMENT Bedrolite paralysed so consultants have said they can’t do it when Bedrolite is proving so successful.”
It’s the latest battle Lisa has had to try to get the NHS to fund Bedrolite.
Last year, Lisa claimed the family’s GP had been blocked from prescribing the drug on the NHS. She accused health off icials and the Scottish Government of “moving the goalposts” over covering the cost.
NHS N Lanarkshire had more than tha £195,000 donated to its endowment en fund between April Ap and August. It has paid out o more than £124,000.
Dr Jane Burns, medical director, d NHS Lanarkshire, said: s “We cannot discuss details d of individual cases due d to patient confidentiality.
“I would encourage Ms Quarrell Q to contact us to discuss d her concerns.”