Senedd cancer protest by ex-mayor

Christopher Lewis says a 12-month treatment for him would cost �22,000.

A former town mayor who has terminal cancer has protested at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay to call for the drug Sutent to be available to all who need it.

Christopher Lewis, 54, of Chepstow, was diagnosed with kidney cancer in May and has been told he has two years to live.

His local health board refused funding after his consultant at Cardiff's Velindre Hospital applied for the drug.

Monmouthshire Local Health Board said it considered each case on its merits but followed national NHS guidelines.

Mr Lewis, a former mayor of Brecon, took a letter for First Minister Rhodri Morgan.

The letter said people "should not be denied a right to life, simply due to minor amounts of funding."

'Not recommended'

It said : "Every human being in this country should receive clinically approved medication, even if life is only prolonged for a short time."

Mr Lewis claims 12 months of treatment with Sutent would cost around �22,000.

Monmouthshire Local Health Board's Director of Joint Commissioning, Angela Jones, said she was unable to comment on individual cases.

She said the board followed guidance by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (Nice) which did not recommend Sutent as an option for advanced cases.

Last August the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group had also come out against recommending the drug, she said.

Ms Jones said: "We do consider exceptional cases but that has to be through a formal process and panel."

'Concerns'

A Welsh Assembly Government spokesman said decisions on treatment had to be made locally until NICE published its final guidance in January 2009.

He said in the meantime Health Minister Edwina Hart had asked Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Mike Harmer to canvass the views of Wales-based oncologists working specifically in the field of renal cancer on the merits of the draft NICE guidance.

He said: "They had a number of concerns, not least whether it is ethically sound to refuse a drug when this might otherwise mean a survival benefit of up to six months.

"They also expressed concerns that in reaching their overall judgement on the clinical and cost effectiveness, it was not clear whether NICE had used the most up-to-date data from recent trials.

"These points, along with a number of others, have recently been made formally to NICE as part of the Welsh Assembly Government's response to the NICE consultation."

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