Pensioner praises NHS wonder drug
Published Date:
04 September 2008
By Dianne Jones
A PENSIONER who had to spend hundreds of pounds on private treatment to save her remaining sight, is overjoyed that a wonder drug helping her to overcome a progressive form of blindness is now available on the NHS.
Joyce Manning, aged 80, from Hurstpierpoint, suffers from wet age-related macular degeneration, the most common cause of progressive blindness.
Joyce lost the central vision in her right eye before two drugs, Avastin and Lucentis, were available in the UK but when the sight in her left eye began to fade last year her consultant offered her Avastin.
The new drug was not available on the NHS and Joyce, a pensioner on limited funds, had to pay £586 for each injection she received.
Two months ago, Joyce was finally able to receive her crucial injections free of charge because West Sussex Primary Care Trust made a unilateral decision to fund Avastin on the NHS.
Avastin has worked for Joyce, who has received 11 injections so far, but an alternative, more expensive drug called Lucentis is also used as an effective treatment. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) only gave clearance to use Lucentis on the NHS last month.
Joyce said: "These drugs should have been available to NHS patients at an earlier stage because peventing people with this condition from going blind will save the NHS a lot of money in the longer term."
Read the full story in the Mid Sussex Times
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Last Updated:
04 September 2008 3:25 PM
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Source:
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Location:
Haywards Heath
