Cancer patient goes to court to save his life

A cancer patient given two months to live went to the High Court today to fight for a last-chance drug to prolong his life.

Colin Ross, 55, has been told by his doctors that without the drug Revlimid he is unlikely to survive the autumn let alone celebrate Christmas.

Mr Ross, who has multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood cells, says he is a victim of postcode lottery as fellow patients are receiving the drug.

The Royal Marsden Hospital where he is being treated has the drug in its fridge but the West Sussex Primary Care Trust refuses to fund it for him.

Mr Ross is challenging the decision made by the trust. He says the cost of the drug would be approximately £5,000 per course and his doctors have asked for funding for up to four courses lasting up to four months. If his home in Horsham, West Sussex, was located one and a half miles away in any direction, he would receive the drug.

Arriving at court Mr Ross, who has two children and four grandchildren, said: "If I don't win and I get no further treatment I won't be here for Christmas - it is as simple as that.

He was diagnosed in May 2004 and has undergone a range of cancer treatments. At present he has had to come off the only life-prolonging drug he has been receiving, Thalidomide, because of the threat of serious side effects.

In court his barrister, Richard Clayton QC, told Judge Simon Grenfell: "This case is the end of the road for Mr Ross."

The team of clinicians, including Professor Karol Sikora, one of the leading experts in the field, who are treating him at the Royal Marsden made an urgent application to the West Sussex trust for funding of Revlimid which they believe to be the only viable option open to extend his life.

Revlimid is readily available to patients across Europe and in the US, but has not yet been granted approval by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence and is only being provided by some PCTs on the NHS and only in exceptional circumstances.

After waiting more than nine weeks for a decision, Mr Ross was told in May that West Sussex rejected his application on the grounds the drug was too expensive and his case was not "exceptional-enough". Mr Clayton attacked the "irrational" decision as a "fundamental error". He told the court this was "not a floodgates case" because Revlimid was unlikely to be suitable for many patients.

Only 60 per cent of applications for exceptional funding of Revlimid in England and Scotland have succeeded.

"If Mr Ross lived one and a half miles in any direction from where he does he would have received the drug," said Mr Clayton.

Dr Liz Tayler, a consultant in public health for West Sussex PCT, said in a statement she had the greatest sympathy for patients with a terminal condition. She said: "We have to make difficult commissioning decisions, given that resources within the NHS are limited.

"The PCT must be satisfied a drug is both clinically effective and cost effective before it can agree to spend taxpayers' money on that drug," she said.

The case continues.