Dying grandad refused life-saving drugs available in Scotland as he lives 9 MILES over border

Raymond Hext, who has ­prostate cancer, has been told radium-223 could keep him alive for at least another six months

A dying grandad has been denied life-prolonging drugs available in Scotland – because he lives NINE miles over the border in England.
Raymond Hext, who has ­ prostate cancer , has been told radium-223 could keep him alive for at least another six months.
That would mean he could spend one last Christmas with his grandchildren. But three weeks ago the ­treatment was dropped from the list of approved drugs on the Government’s Cancer Drugs Fund.
It IS available on the NHS in Scotland – a 10-minute drive from his home in Scotby, Cumbria – after it was approved for routine use by the ­Scottish Medicines Consortium.
It means when Raymond’s current course of chemotherapy comes to an end in December, he has no other options available on the NHS.
In a heartbreaking interview, the 61-year-old retired ­distributions manager said knowing he could succumb to cancer at any point was “like having a shotgun to your head, never knowing when the trigger is going to go ‘bang’”.


Charlie Hedley
Devastated: Raymond Hext says it's like having a "shotgun held to his head"
And he made a direct plea to Prime Minister David Cameron to make the drug available on the NHS, saying: “Please let me see my grandchildren blossom.”
He added: “Every day you get up is a bonus, every day is precious. It’s hard thinking every day, ‘Is this going to be your last?’
"In December my current ­treatment comes to an end, then all I’ve got is myself, my doctor and morphine to numb the pain.
“It’s going to get me one way or another – it’s scary, it’s horrific. But I want to buy some time.
“I’m nine miles from the border – someone might get that treatment and have six months more than me. It’s just cruel.”
But he added defiantly: “I’m not going to move to Scotland. I’ve worked hard for this house and I’m leaving here in a box and so is my partner.”
A ruling by the National ­Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the drugs rationing body, is expected in January to determine if radium-223, made by German firm Bayer, will be made available on the NHS.
Raymond said: “If NICE don’t sign off radium in January then there’s nothing for me.”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/dying-grandad-refused-life-saving-6698171

I hope he manages to hang on for Christmas with his grandchildren.

Me too, will be a special time for him and precious memories for his family Life is cruel x

A direct result of labours devolution policy... plus if they hadn't signed us up to pay £300 billion for £50 billion worth of hospitals...

Tommy Monk wrote:A direct result of labours devolution policy... plus if they hadn't signed us up to pay £300 billion for £50 billion worth of hospitals...

What a tit, because of devolution they get the drug in Scotland, because of Cameron CUTTING the budget for UK hospitals, we don't.

Maybe one day after so many of these cases, it will be the un doing of big pharmaceutical drug companies. Shame so many lives are slipping away from us.

Too true.  Ben put up a thread about the idiot who got the rights to a very important drug and promptly put it up from something like £12 to well over £100.  He's out of luck though, another company have worked out what the effective parts of it are and marketed it under another name for pennies!

Thanks Sass, heard about the first part on the guy upping the price but had not caught the update.

Why do we give our wealth to outsiders when our own need help.

England First:

Sassy being thick again...


And lying...


And failing to comprehend the bigger picture...