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Sutent woman takes turn for the worse

Kathryn Ryan
17/ 7/2008

A GRANDMOTHER who has been refused a life-prolonging cancer drug twice has been hospitalised because she is struggling to breathe.

Jean Murphy, 62, was denied Sutent – the only drug which could prolong her life – again last week despite a judge ordering Salford health bosses to reconsider her case.

Mrs Murphy, of Cleveland Avenue, Hope, suffers from kidney cancer and has been told she has less than two years to live.

But an expert says the drug Sutent would shrink her tumour and probably extend her life by up to six months.

She was admitted to the Christie Hospital early this week after her doctor, who supports her drugs battle, discovered she had lung problems at a routine appointment.

Her devastated family have asked for this picture of her, using an oxygen mask to help her breathe, to be published to show people what she is going through.

Her daughter Cathy Ostasz said: "It is heartbreaking to see my mum going downhill fast when she could be getting treatment.

"She has fought so hard but this latest decision to deny her treatment has hit her hard.

"I want the people at Salford PCT, who are saying her case is not exceptional enough to need this drug, to see what fighting their system has done to her.

"She wants to live so much and it is so unfair that she will miss out on months of life because of where she lives."

Last week a meeting of Salford Primary Care Trust commissioning panel met to review their decision to refuse the drug after being ordered to do so by the High Court.

They decided to refuse it again and Mrs Murphy, who is now in constant pain and has had to start using a wheelchair, is now appealing this second refusal.

Her family has written to Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Health Secretary Alan Johnson asking them to intervene.

Salford MP and Communities Secretary Hazel Blears this week urged the government’s own watchdog for health service spending to speed up a review on whether the drug is cost effective and to issue national guidance.

Mrs Murphy’s treatment would cost £3,500 a month.

In 2006-07 the PCT had a surplus of almost £2m.

After hearing the decision last week, Mrs Murphy said: "I am so disappointed. I went to court and I thought I had won but now I’ve lost all over again.

"I want to live and to do that I need this drug. I have had to keep going to fight the system but I’m starting to worry now."

Her solicitor Mark Mcghee, of Linder Myers solicitors, said: "We will be appealing against this decision and we will be asking that our case is heard urgently and in public.

"The PCT ended last year with surplus cash and we will be arguing vociferously that this should be taken into consideration in this case."

A spokesperson for the Trust said: "This has been a particularly complex case for the PCT.

"Salford PCT, along with other PCTs, has to look very closely at which drugs it can fund within its limited budget and decisions over which drugs to fund are not taken lightly.

"The drug Sutent is yet to be reviewed by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) therefore NHS organisations in Greater Manchester commissioned an independent review of Sutent."