Agony after taking up to 30 drugs a day

Sammy Bentwood, 15,

right, was four when he started treatment at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Doctors diagnosed him with a rare gut disorder and prescribed a cocktail of up to 30 drugs a day. For three years, it included Infliximab, which has potential side-effects that include an increased risk of cancer.

He also spent four of his eight years under the hospital’s care, being fed exclusively by a tube through his stomach.

He has since suffered several conditions thought to be linked to his treatment at GOSH, including rashes, stunted growth and post-traumatic stress disorder.

When doctors from the Royal London Hospital reviewed his treatment in 2016, they told Sammy’s parents that he should have never been given the controversial drug. They took him off all his medication and discontinued tube feeding.

For Sammy, his treatment had devastating repercussions.

He has now been diagnosed with Crohn’s disease, a bowel disease that causes pain, diarrhoea and blood loss.

The most effective drug for it is Infliximab – but it will no longer work for Sammy, doctors have told him.

Sammy said: “It’s really frustrating and sad … I’ll be stuck in pain for ever, basically.”

Great Ormond Street said: “All our patients are now supported by a multidisciplinary team … [and] we have reviewed our gastroenterology patients and are assured that they are receiving appropriate treatment.”

The hospital spokesman added: “We can’t comment on individual cases.”