PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
PARITY OF PRESCRIPTION OF DRUGS FOR THE TREATMENT OF CANCER (30 January 2006)

That this House condemns the continuing postcode lottery in cancer treatment as illustrated by two cases in Gateshead East and Washington West; notes that bowel cancer sufferer Jack Wilson, 66 years of age, has been refused Cetuximab by the NHS because it costs too much although it has been used elsewhere on humanitarian grounds; further notes that 61 year old retired newsagent and grandfather, Fred Fergus, who has a brain tumour, is receiving radiotherapy but has had to use his life savings of £10,000 to pay privately for temozolamide which may extend his life expectancy; welcomes the recent report from the Public Accounts Committee which examined stark inequalities in cancer death rates around the country and inequalities in the availability of the most effective cancer drugs; believes that the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and the rules of the Northern Cancer Network are failing the North East; further believes that NICE should be ensuring that the same treatments are available in every part of the country; and urges the Government to fund all clinically agreed drug treatments and speed up NICE approvals so that the chance to live longer is not dependent on private means or where a person lives.

Sponsored by:
Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Labour)