Please help Steph in getting Plymouth PCT to fund her the drug Avastin, which will help her live longer.
The more support, the better.
Read her stories here:
http://www.plymouthsound.co.uk/Article.asp?id=900357
http://www.thisisplymouth...45532-detail/article.html
Stephanie's fight for cancer drug
Monday, September 22, 2008, 19:29
A PLYMOUTH woman is fighting to get a life-extending drug on the NHS after she found out it is freely available in 14 European countries.
Stephanie Chouette, aged 34, has breast cancer which spread to her vertebrae and liver, and only has a few months to live. The drug, Avastin, would probably double her life expectancy but is only available in the UK if patients can show "exceptional circumstances".
Last week Stephanie's request for the drug, which would cost £2,400 a month, was turned down by Plymouth PCT.
She said: "I can't believe they are going to let me die just because they won't pay.
"I don't think it's just my case. I think everyone should get it.
Click here!
"This is like shutting down the A&E department, saying 'we don't want to pay for that, just die'."
She said Avastin may allow her to live until better drugs are developed.
Stephanie is French but has been living with her English partner Ali in Plymstock for the last four years.
Just before Stephanie moved to Britain she was diagnosed with breast cancer, at the age of 30.
She was shocked, but she points out: "It can happen to anyone."
As a permanent resident from an EU country, Stephanie was treated on the NHS, receiving regular chemotherapy, painkilling drugs and other treatments.
"The doctors and nurses are wonderful," she said. "But I had noticed that the NHS are cutting off some comfort treatments."
The debilitating process meant that she had to stop work as a self-employed computer technician, and unfortunately the cancer spread to her bones.
This summer Stephanie was visiting relatives in France and arranged to have the chemotherapy she needs there.
Tests carried out during her visit showed the cancer had spread to her liver, and the French doctors prescribed and administered Avastin. Stephanie was surprised because she knew the drug was not available in Britain, but said that after taking it she felt better than she had for the last four years.
When she returned to Plymouth, her English doctor, Derriford's head oncologist Dr Steve Kelly, put in a request with the PCT for Stephanie to get Avastin.
He had to show exceptional circumstances because NICE, the government body which decides if new drugs are to be made available on the NHS, has stopped its appraisal of Avastin after the manufacturer, Roche, refused to co-operate.
It is one of a number of disputes between NICE and the pharmaceutical giants over the increasing cost of medicines. NICE insists on data on clinical and cost-effectiveness because it believes some drugs are overpriced.
A spokesman for Plymouth PCT said: "The Exceptional Treatment Panel takes account of NICE guidance and then reviews each application to see if it is an exceptional case which should be approved.
"The panel found that the application did not demonstrate exceptionality. If the patient or their clinician feel that the panel did not have all the relevant information to help them consider the individual case, they have the right to appeal.
"NHS Plymouth does support and fund a range of alternative treatments for breast cancer which have been assessed as safe and clinically effective."
Stephanie's partner Ali said: "We shouldn't have to prove exceptional circumstances. It's their duty to keep Steph alive."
The couple, who say they know other women who could benefit from the drug, intend to appeal against the decision.
Stephanie said: "I would like several of us to go to that commission and show them our faces, because we are just numbers to them. I would like them to look us in the eye and say 'you are going to die because we won't pay for your treatment'."
If Stephanie's appeal is turned down, she could move to France to access the treatment there, but she says she wants to stay with her family in England. Commuting to France for treatment is not an option, because Stephanie would not be entitled to free medical care there when she is not resident.
Another option which is not available is paying for Avastin – under current NHS rules, if a patient pays for any part of their treatment they become ineligible for free care, so Stephanie would have to pay for her chemotherapy as well.
