Patients to be denied Herceptin

Herceptin is already used to treat advanced breast cancer

Breast cancer sufferers in part of Shropshire will continue to be denied the drug Herceptin on the NHS.

Telford and Wrekin and Shropshire health trusts will continue to refuse to pay for the drug except in exceptional circumstances.

Differing decisions about supply have been made in various parts of England with some being fought in the courts.

Welsh patients at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital get free treatment but Shropshire women have to pay.

Currently the two primary care trusts (PCTs) do not fund treatment and a committee met on Tuesday to look at additional information from clinicians and patients, but unanimously decided not to change the policy.

'Consider cost-effectiveness'

The decision was taken despite Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt saying PCTs should not refuse Herceptin treatment on the basis of cost.

Now several Shropshire breast cancer sufferers are planning to take their fight to be given the anti-cancer drug to the European Court of Human Rights.

Julie Grant, chief executive of Shropshire health authority, said when Court of Appeal judges recently ruled that a breast cancer patient from Swindon should have the drug, they said cost was a legitimate consideration for PCTs.

"Yes there is that statement (from Patricia Hewitt) but from that case, it is legitimate for PCTs to consider cost-effectiveness," she said.

Further research

Earlier this month, an anonymous businessman stepped in to pay for another woman in Shropshire to be given the treatment after her 10-year-old daughter wrote to her MP highlighting her mother's plight.

The drug, which costs about £20,000 a year, is currently licensed for use in treating women with advanced breast cancer.

But further research is being carried out before it receives a licence for use in early stage breast cancer.

The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) has said it is committed to fast-tracking its evaluation of the drug once it is licensed.