Woman loses Herceptin treatment case

A woman being treated for breast cancer has lost a court battle to get the anti-cancer drug Herceptin prescribed on the NHS.

Ann Marie Rodgers, 53, had taken the case when she was refused the drug by the Swindon Primary Care Trust (PCT), but a court today ruled that the Trust has been acting within the law in its refusal to prescribe the drug to Mrs Rogers.

Mrs Rogers' legal team lodged an appeal against the ruling which was granted. She has been paying to receive the drug, which is not licensed for early-stage breast cancer. An her legal team are seeking an order that would enable her to receive the drug until the appeal case is heard.

Mrs Rogers solicitor Yogi Amin said his client was bitterly disappointed by the decision.

Speaking outside the court, Mr Amin said: She felt it was common sense that a policy to refuse to provide treatment, where other authorities are providing it, should be struck down."

Mr Amin said the ordeal for Mrs Rogers was a "fight for her life".

Mr Justice Bean, ruling that the Trust had not acted illegally, said: "The court's task is not to say which policy is better, but to decide whether Swindon's policy is arbitrary or irrational, and thus unlawful.

"Accordingly, despite my sympathy for Mrs Rogers plight, I must dismiss the claim for judicial review."

The case is understood to be the first of its kind.

Herceptin has been licensed for use in late stage breast cancer, but despite mounting evidence indicating that the drug may be beneficial in early-stage breast cancer, the drug must be approved for such use after a full assessment by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

Herceptin is one of a number of drugs that are currently being assessed by NICE to determine the benefits of treatment.

A course of the drug costs in the region of £20,000 a year, and although a number of Trusts had declined courses, the decisions had been reversed before the cases reached court.

A spokepeson for Swindon PCT said that the trust had to consider all its patients when making decisions on treatment policies.

Responding to today's court ruling, Joanne Rule, the Chief Executive of patient support group CancerBACUP said: "This ruling has huge implications for cancer care. We believe the public will see this as postcode prescribing rather than local-decision making.

"The people who call our helpline want to know that decisions about their treatment depend on clinical need and not on where they live, how much money they have, or how "exceptional" they are in comparison to someone else."

She added: "The UK spends less on cancer treatments than other countries. In order to fund new treatments like this in future, we need proper planning as new treatments develop and a second national Cancer Plan with money attached to rebuild consensus about the future of cancer care in the UK."

(SP)