Warwickshire: Woman in High Court sight battle

A woman who could lose her sight has been given permission for a test case at the High Court to try to get an NHS Trust to fund her treatment - reports the BBC.

Warwickshire Primary Care Trust refused to pay for Patricia Meadow's eye treatment, even though the drug is available in other areas.

The trust took a "resource-based" decision not to fund treatment, the court heard, meaning it has insufficient funding from central government to provide the care Ms Meadows needs.

Ms Meadows suffers from wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in her left eye, and dry intermediate AMD in her right.

There is no treatment for the dry condition, but there is hope that a course of the drug ranibizumab (trade name Lucentis) will save the sight in her left eye.

The High Court heard from her lawyers that objective medical evidence shows a course of the drug has up to a 95% chance of arresting her eyesight deterioration.

They said there was also a chance of it improving her vision and without treatment she could lose her sight in a matter of months.

Her case is being backed by the Royal National Institute of Blind People.

Mr Justice Undershill gave permission for a judicial review to be heard within a matter of weeks.

David Lock, appearing for the PCT, said that Novartis, the manufacturer of Lucentis, was refusing to provide the support recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice).

He said: "Without the manufacturers support, Nice has clearly advised that this is not a cost-effective treatment.

He said the PCT had to balance a budget of £668m and it was impossible to meet all the needs of patients.

So while this is the case, why has the government agreed to giving the audit-failing European Union a massive and unreasonable 63% increase in payments, taking Britain's contribution to an astonishing £115 million (net) every single week?

It's people like Ms Meadows who are being forced to pay the price of the utter waste of huge amounts of public money on the EU.

Warwickshire: Man in NHS battle 'to save sight'

A man has called his NHS trust "morally wrong" for refusing to fund treatment which could save his sight - reports the BBC.

Raymond Liggins, 76, from Nuneaton, lost the sight in his left eye because of wet macular degeneration and now has the condition in his right eye.

Warwickshire Primary Care Trust has said that it did not routinely fund the "sight-saving" drug Lucentis as it was not recommended in guidance to the NHS.

David Rose, chief executive of Warwickshire PCT, said this was the same as other PCTs in the West Midlands.

But Mr Liggins' case has been backed by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and the Macular Disease Society (MDS).

The RNIB said Mr Liggins had the devastating condition age-related macular degeneration (AMD) which could lead to blindness in as little as three months.

It called for Warwickshire PCT to adopt draft guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) which recommended Lucentis be made available to all patients who developed AMD.

The RNIB said rapid use of the drug was "vital" as it was able to halt the progress of the condition.

Mr Liggins, who is using his life savings to pay for private treatment, said he and other patients with the condition had been "let down" by the NHS.

"It's morally wrong to let people go blind when there are treatments available," he said.

Mr Liggins, who cares for his wife Olive who recently had a stroke, added: "My wife depends on me to help maintain her balance when we go out shopping, but I won't be able to do this if I lose my sight."

Barbara McLaughan, RNIB campaigns manager, said: "It's an absolute disgrace that he is effectively being told to pay up or go blind," she said.

She added: "The clock is literally ticking for patients like Raymond who risk losing their sight because PCTs are denying them sight-saving treatment."

Mr Rose said it was not appropriate for the PCT to comment publicly on an individual case.

He added: "The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) issues guidance to the NHS on treatments and procedures following extensive trial and review and Warwickshire PCT follows all mandatory NICE guidelines.