This is extracted from a Telegraph Article published on 2 January 2012.
The scheme allows patients to apply for special funding for drugs which they have been denied by the NHS rationing body because they are deemed to be “not cost effective” The Government has provided around £200 million for the initiative.
The most commonly approved treatments include Avastin (bevacizumab) and Erbitux (cetuximab), which are used in bowel cancer cases to prolong life.
This fund is due to end in 2014.
Our comments:
Precious time can be lost in waiting for decisions as to whether a drug is available or not. This is where the Trevor Collins Foundation can help. Provided your Oncologist is recommending the use of a specified drug not generally available, we can provide funding for immediate treatment. We will then assist in establishing funding sponsors whilst your treatment is underway.
We believe that cancer patients should not need to worry about where the money is coming from for drugs that are readily available as standard treatments in other countries, but not generally available in all parts of the United Kingdom.
We also do not know how these drugs will be funded when the Cancer Drugs Fund initiative comes to an end.