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EXCLUSIVE: Timebomb of cancer cases
A DOCTOR has accused Derbyshire NHS bosses of burying their heads in the sand over a potential surge in cancer caused by asbestos.
Her warning comes as a second local woman has been denied the drug Alimta, which limits the effect of the asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma – even though it is available in the Greater Manchester area, just a few miles from her Chinley home.
Whaley Bridge mesothelioma patient Ethel Hallam campaigned for and won the right to be treated with Alimta last year after her primary care trust at first refused her the drug.
But Dr Carol Dunn, a friend of the latest victim of the postcode lottery in NHS drug prescription, is warning that there will be more and more cases of the cancer in this area because of the use of asbestos in industry, and said Derbyshire Primary care Trust was burying its head in the sand over the problem which will only get worse in coming decades.
She said: "People have been exposed to asbestos over the years because of Ferodo – one of the biggest employers in the area.
"From exposure, mesothelioma takes 50 years to develop and it is going to increase over the next ten or 20 years in the UK."
Ethel Hallam's case caused outrage in Whaley Bridge last year where she is a popular and active member of the community.
Now Chinley woman Maureen Barnes is being forced to go through the same ordeal of appealing for the treatment with Alimta, even though doctors treating her condition in Manchester want her to have the drug – and could prescribe it for her if she lived in the city.
Stories by Louise Bellicoso & Johanna Dollerson
louise.bellicoso@buxtonadvertiser.co.uk
johanna.dollerson@buxtonadvertiser.co.ukSixty-year-old Maureen Barnes, of Portland Grove, was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a rare form of lung cancer, just a week before Christmas.
She had hoped to have an operation to help treat the disease after being referred to a specialist doctor in Leicestershire but the operation could not be carried out because doctors discovered the cancer had spread to her windpipe.
Her doctors at Wythenshawe Hospital recommended her for treatment using the drug Alimta, the only drug licensed to treat mesothelioma, caused by exposure to asbestos.
But Derbyshire County Primary Care Trust (PCT) refused to fund the drug, despite the fact that it is paid for by PCTs in the Greater Manchester area, just a few miles down the road from her home.
Mrs Barnes said: "I was absolutely devastated when I was diagnosed. It has taken a month to get the shock out of me. Now I am just angry, you don't know how I angry I am.
"If anyone on the PCT had this disease, they would bloody well want this drug. If I lived in Greater Manchester I would be getting it. It has got to be post-code prescribing, it can't be anything else.
"When I was first diagnosed with this I was healthy and fit. Now I can feel myself deteriorating", she added.
"When you have got what I've got you could do without the stress. You just can't think straight because of what's happening to you. It's a life sentence.
Mrs Barnes is now appealing against the PCT's decision and hopes to have her doctor and oncologist present to represent her when her case is heard.
"I am taking the time up of an oncologist at Wythenshawe Hospital to go to the appeal for something that I should be getting anyway", she said.
"Everybody who has this disease has to go through this when we should be getting it. Ethel Hallam from Whaley Bridge went through the same thing.
"I am left waiting for all this time which I haven't got.
"The doctor said there were only one or two other cases in this area but with Ferodo that will increase.
"Mesothelioma takes 30-40 years to rear its ugly head."
A spokesman for the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), who provide advice on the appropriate treatment for people with specific diseases within the NHS, said: "The decision (over the use of Alimta) has been put back to September 2007.
"In the meantime decisions must be made at a local level on a case by case basis. They have to do their own evaluation.
"What they can't do is say 'NICE hasn't made their decision yet therefore we don't have to fund it."Bridgemont doctor Carol Dunn is a friend of Mrs Barnes. She said the PCT is "burying its head in the sand" by refusing to fund the treatment.
Dr Dunn, who has worked at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport for the last eight years, said Derbyshire County PCT should be lobbying for more funding to treat people affected by the disease, rather than denying the need.
She said: "People have been exposed to asbestos over the years because of Ferodo - one of the biggest employers in the area.
"From exposure, mesothelioma takes 50 years to develop and it is going to increase over the next 10 or 20 years in the UK.
"The PCT are burying their heads in the sand.
"What strikes me is that when you have been given a devastating diagnosis you want to be getting your head round it and being cared for, not launching yourself into a battle for treatment.
"There is lots of research on mesothelioma around in the USA. They caught on to the dangers of asbestos earlier and it has peaked over there already.
"But here it has yet to peak. It will over the next 10 or 15 years. There they use surgery and chemo – they throw everything at it to give people the best quality of life."
John McClean, the GMB union's National Health and Safety Officers, supported the use of Alimta.
He said: "The fact is that if you take Alimta away you take away the only hope these families have got. In that sense it affects the whole family and the whole community.
"And in future why would a drug company put money into research that will have no future because the NHS won't fund it?
"In an ideal world everybody who needs the drug should get it free at the point of delivery.
"It is not a great cost. It is a developing area of treatment.
"It has been diagnosis and death up til now. Now there is a little bit of hope for them with this drug. The government has been fobbing us off with this NICE appeal."A statement from Derbyshire County PCT said: "Derbyshire County Primary Care Trust considers requests for treatments not provided routinely at our Non Contract Treatment Panel.
"The panel includes a Senior Public Health Doctor, experienced GP and a lay person. All requests are dealt with very carefully using the PCT's Value Set and are considered on an individual basis.
"Patients are entitled to appeal the PCT's decision, and the appeals panel is independent of the Non Contract Treatments Panel.
"For reasons of patient confidentiality, the PCT is not able to discuss individual patient details.
"The PCT takes its responsibilities very seriously and takes every care in reaching its decisions."
* Three people have asked the PCT for Alimta treatment, but only one has received permission for its use due to the "very exceptional circumstances" of her case, said a spokeswoman.
Just blaming NICE is not acceptable
Tony Whitston of the campaigning Greater Manchester Asbestos Support Group has condemned the PCT's decision.
He said: "It would appear that Derbyshire PCT are working with the guidelines of the Department of Health, whose reason for not providing Alimta, which has been recommended by Mrs Barnes' doctor, is simply because it does not have NICE approval and that is not acceptable.
"This treatment is urgent and clearly it is important that this appeal is held as quickly as possible.
"It is expected that the independent panel will uphold the appeal and approve treatment for Mrs Barnes.
"What is significant here is that Mrs Barnes is only 60 years old and is really fit and well.
"It is a very significant case for treatment given Mrs Barnes' age and how well she is.
"I have spoken to a lady from Warrington who is on her fifth course of treatment and she has written to tell me how well she is doing."High Peak MP Tom Levitt said he had written to Derbyshire County PCT in support of Mrs Barnes.
"NICE was invented to stop post-code prescribing", he said.
"But because the drug has only been available 18 months,
NICE has not finished the process of making sure that there is not post-code prescribing.
"The NICE recommendation that no-one should get Alimta has been thrown out and they have been told to go back and consider it which will take another year.
"Whilst we are waiting for that, yes there is effectively post-code prescribing because no-one will be getting Alimta."
Help needed because of risk
Furness Vale councillor Ray Wild, who helped with Mrs Hallam's case, said Derbyshire PCT should definitely be funding the treatment because the county is a high risk area.
"My concern was now that NICE has more or less authorised use of the drug, why are PCTs refusing to fund it?" he said.
"With Ferodo the largest employer using asbestos in the area, asbestos related diseases are going to be quite high in incidence. Really they should be asking the government for extra funds. Hopefully the PCT will relent.
"Tom Levitt has more or less confirmed that the NICE recommendation is not itself a bar on their providing funding. I know that in some areas PCTs are authorising the drugs. So why isn't Derbyshire PCT when the area is known to be a high risk area?
"The PCT should be providing help and support. Mesothelioma victims shouldn't have to battle like this. Stress can accelerate the disease."
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Tuesday 07 February 2012
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