Sales of cancer drugs plan taking off

Sales of the mycancerdrugs insurance plan, which covers the cost of licensed drugs the NHS refuses to pay for, are exceeding expectations, according insurer WPA.

 

Media coverage relating to the 11 drugs blocked by Nice but available across Europe, and in some cases in Scotland, has boosted sales.

 

WPA has helped patients and medical professionals clarify the law.

 

Some cancer specialists have been confused as to whether NHS patients can switch between NHS and private medicine and, if necessary, back again. Complex rules govern how doctors split their time between NHS and private patients. This has lead to an assumption that a patient receiving NHS treatment, but refused the optimum drug, could not pay for it himself and have it administered within the state system.

 

This assumption is false, according to a leading expert in public law. WPA sought the opinion of Nigel Giffin, QC. He found "no bar to a patient buying his own drugs and having them administered as part of a course of NHS treatment. It would seem to follow as a matter of logic that, if the only reason why the NHS body would otherwise refuse to provide a course of treatment is the cost of the drugs involved, and if the patient is willing and able to take that cost out of the equation, then refusal to provide treatment would be irrational and unlawful."

 

Equally, Mr Giffin could find no reason why a private patient could not switch into the state system. "I am aware of nothing either in the statutory scheme governing the NHS or in ministerial directions and guidance which would require or permit a patient to be disadvantaged in treatment decisions because he had previously been in receipt of private treatment."