 |
 |
FYI from BBC news on line A former nurse has won her battle to get the breast cancer drug Herceptin prescribed on the NHS. Herceptin is widely used on patients whose breast cancer is at an advanced stage, or those who are terminally ill. Tests have shown it can greatly extend sufferers' life expectancy, but it has yet to be approved for use on women in the early stages of the illness. The nurse had threatened to use the Human Rights Act to force the primary care trust (PCT) to prescribe the drug. The decision may lead to other health trusts having to offer the drug - which can cost up to £40,000 privately - for women in their care who are in the early stages of the disease. Her lawyer's said the case would mean PCTs would have to think carefully about who they prescribed the drug to. Stephen Grosz said the ruling would not "open the floodgates" to hundreds of claims, but would stop trusts issuing a blanket "no" to all early-stage breast cancer sufferers More at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/4304586.stm Best wishes David McDaid LSE Health and Social Care .