She says 'postcode lottery' is denying her drugs

A SOUTH Yorkshire cancer sufferer who was denied a powerful drug because of the 'postcode lottery' will find outthis month whether her fight has been successful.

Susan Hunt is pushing health chiefs for Cetuximab, a powerful antibody which could help shrink tumours in her liver and lungs.

The 56-year-old mum, from Farm View Road, Kimberworth, believes the drug could save her life but says she has been denied it because she lives in the wrong place.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

She has been told by bosses at Rotherham Primary Care Trust she cannot have the drug, which is given freely on the NHS in Scotland and is also available in Europe.

They hope Euro MP Linda McAvan will move the case forward.

The couple say they will move to Scotland as a last resort and are to meet health chiefs on September 24.

Graham said today: “Time is so precious and we would have liked all this process to have been quicker but at least we have a date.

“We have written to Linda McAvan and she has got back wanting a bit more information. We are hopeful about it.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Without this drug Susan will die. With it, we hope the tumours will shrink to allow life-saving surgery.”

Susan is now on ‘holding’ medication – an older chemotherapy drug, in tablet form, that should keep her stabilised.

Susan was diagnosed with bowel cancer four years ago and underwent an operation to remove a tumour. She went into remission but she now has secondary tumours in her liver and lung.

A test carried out on Susan’s original tumour found it responded to Cetuximab.