Father denied sight drug by trust

Allan Farley has had the condition for eight years

A Shropshire father-of-two suffering from a degenerative eye condition has been told he cannot have treatment with a drug to save his sight.

Allan Farley, of Telford, said he was being denied the Lucentis drug because a two-year course of injections can cost up to £18,000.

Telford and Wrekin Primary Care Trust said there was no evidence it worked.

Mr Farley has punctate inner choroidopathy, which affects the back of the eye and can lead to blindness.

He said: "At the moment all of my vision is coming through the right eye but ultimately I am worried that I will go blind."

The condition affects the choroid area of the eye, causing yellow lesions to form. Sometimes bleeding can occur as a secondary condition which can ultimately cause blindness.

Mr Farley now has this secondary bleeding in his left eye but Telford and Wrekin Primary Care Trust, which commissions services on behalf of the borough, has rejected requests to treat him with the drug even though two consultants said Lucentis would help him.

He said he had exhausted the appeals procedure and his only hope now was a change in the rules or to pay for the treatment privately.