Ann Marie Rogers wins Herceptin appeal

Gilps · April 12, 2006

Woman wins Herceptin court appeal

David Batty and agencies

Wednesday April 12, 2006

Breast cancer patient Ann Marie Rogers today won her appeal to receive the drug Herceptin on the NHS.

The court ordered her local health body Swindon primary care trust (PCT), which had refused to fund her treatment with Herceptin, to review its policy of only providing the breast cancer drug in "exceptional cases".

Ms Rogers, 54, had said she faced a "death sentence" if she was not provided with the treatment.

In a landmark ruling, the master of the rolls, Sir Anthony Clarke, and fellow appeal court judges Lord Justice Brooke and Lord Justice Buxton said this policy was irrational and "therefore unlawful".

Sir Anthony Clarke said the PCT must now "formulate a lawful policy" upon which to base future decisions about the provision of Herceptin.

Under the ruling Ms Rogers, 54, will receive the drug until the PCT draws up a new policy. If the PCT decides to continue its current policy, it must fund her treatment for another 21 days.

The judgment could have implications for hundreds of breast cancer patients. Herceptin is currently only licensed for use in advanced stage breast cancer, but the ruling could lead PCTs to offer it to those - like Ms Rogers - in the early stages on the disease because it declares it is irrational to treat one patient but not another.

Speaking outside the court, Ms Rogers said she was "extremely grateful" for the judges' "humanitarian judgment."

She said: "I couldn't have asked for a better verdict, I did this for all women battling this dreadful disease. I believe everyone prescribed this treatment by their doctor should be given the same healthcare wherever they live. I can now look towards the future and have more confidence that I will win this battle against breast cancer."

Ms Rogers' solicitor, Yogi Amin, said: "The judgment means that all women whose doctor has prescribed Herceptin to them for early breast cancer all over the country should have a treatment funded by their health authority.

"Half of the health authorities in England were 'umming and ahing' and giving it to some patients and not to others. Hopefully there is going to be uniform approval of Herceptin for those patients whose doctor prescribes it."

Mr Amin said there were 20 women in Ms Rogers' home town of Swindon who would benefit from the ruling. He estimated there would be hundreds across the country.

Swindon PCT had refused to give the mother-of-three Herceptin as the drug is not licensed for the treatment of early-stage breast cancer, which she has.

The PCT was refused permission to appeal to the House of Lords although it can apply directly. It was also ordered to pay Ms Rogers reasonable legal costs.

But its chief executive Jan Stubbings said it had not been ordered to provide the drug for anyone, only to revisit its policy. She said: "Following this new judgment we will now revisit our policy taking into consideration the points made by the court."

Ms Rogers took the PCT to court because it refused to fund her treatment with Herceptin, despite her doctor prescribing the drug. She has already borrowed £5,000 to fund further courses of treatment but cannot afford to pay for any more. A year's treatment with the drug costs an estimated £20,000.

Earlier this year the pharmaceutical company Roche, which manufactures Herceptin, applied to the European Medicines Agency for a license to approve the drug as a treatment for early-stage breast cancer. The health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, has promised that the NHS treatments watchdog, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, will fast-track guidance on the use of Herceptin as soon as an early-stage licence is granted.

The annual bill for providing Herceptin to the 5,000 women diagnosed each year with early stage breast cancer susceptible to it would come to £109m, according to estimates by cancer specialists.

Joanne Rule, chief executive of Cancerbackup, called for a new fund to be set up to pay for Herceptin to take the pressure off PCTs, many of which are struggling with mounting debts

5InIstanbul · April 12, 2006

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