Mother's anger at NHS over cancer drug snub

Nikki Phelps, 37, who suffers from glandular cancer, has already spent her 6,000 life savings on Sunitinib and is now being forced to sell her home in Luddesdown, near Gravesend, Kent, to fund the treatment, as she has been told she does not have the right type of cancer to qualify for it on the NHS.

Mrs Phelps, who has two-year-old twin sons with her husband Bill, criticised the fact she was unable to receive the drug despite the Government's pledge to give sufferers of rare cancers easier access to life-extending drugs..

She told the Daily Mail: "I can't understand what the NHS is doing – where is the logic in investing in my treatment and then pulling the plug like this?

"My consultant is an expert in the field, and he knows what's best for me. Yet someone else is making a decision about what drugs I can and cannot take."

The former primary school teacher was first diagnosed with cancer 10 years ago before being given the all-clear in 2002.

However, after giving birth through IVF treatment in November 2007 the disease returned and she underwent surgery to remove an 11lb tumour in January last year.

Doctors have warned her there is a 50 per cent chance that one of her sons could one day contract the condition, which causes small, benign tumours to grow in glands around the body.

As well as being forced to put their 200,000 home on the market the couple have said they are also prepared to sell their cattery business to pay for the drug, which costs 36,000 a year.

A spokeswoman for NHS West Kent said Sunitinib, also known as Sutent, is only licensed and approved by the rationing body Nice for treatment of renal cell carcinoma and gastro-intestinal stromal tumour.

Medical director Dr James Thallon said: "NHS West Kent routinely funds Sunitinib for conditions approved by Nice.

"However, for certain types of tumour the drug is not licensed, or approved by Nice, and it is vitally important that we consider all the clinical evidence in these circumstances.

"We have to prioritise treatments that we have clear evidence will work over those where we can't be certain, to get the best from our limited resources."

Mrs Phelps's case has been highlighted by the Tories, who have already promised that no one in her situation will be denied a drug their specialist says they should have.

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: "No one should be forced to sell their home or spend their life savings in order to pay for healthcare.

"It is bitterly unfair that people who have paid taxes all their life are unable to get the treatment they need from the NHS."

The chairman of Nice, Sir Michael Rawlins, last night published a copy of a letter he had sent to the Secretary of State for Health and others asking questions about the case.

It said Nice had not been asked to approve the drug in question for the condition in question, so it was wrong to say it had been "rejected".

Nice officials added that local health authorities were free to make their own decisions.