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RNIB backs pensioner's High Court battle for sight saving treatment from NHS

Summary: Press information regarding High Court case for sight saving treatment.

• Notes to Editors

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The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is backing three pensioners in a landmark court case against Warwickshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) for refusing to fund sight-saving treatment.

The two-day judicial review begins on Thursday 10 July at the High Court in London. The action has been backed by RNIB as part of its two-year long 'Save Our Sight’ battle to secure sight-saving treatment on the NHS for all those who need it. RNIB believes Warwickshire may be the only PCT in England who haven’t funded a single patient's treatment with sight saving anti-VEGF drugs.

What: Protest outside the Royal Courts of Justice with claimants, other pensioners who suffer from wet AMD and RNIB campaigners

Where: Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, WC2A 2LL

When: 9.30am to 10.15am, Thursday 10 July 2008

Interviews: Raymond Liggins, claimant; Jean Middleton, claimant; Steve Winyard, RNIB Head of Campaigns; Spokesperson from Irwin Mitchell, legal team

The three claimants suffer from wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) - the most common cause of sight loss in the UK - which can lead to blindness in as little as three months if left untreated. Licensed anti-VEGF drugs (including Lucentis) have been proven to successfully halt the condition, while improving sight in 30 to 40 per cent of patients. However patients across England are still being denied NHS funding for them.

Lawyers for Raymond Liggins, 76, from Nuneaton, Jean Middleton, 78, from Kingsbury, and Patricia Meadows, 65, from Stratford-upon-Avon, claim that Warwickshire PCT's exceptionality policy is unlawful in that it is effectively a blanket ban on funding anti-VEGF treatments.

RNIB's Head of Campaigns, Steve Winyard, said: "It's a national scandal that pensioners are being forced into such a vulnerable position by a postcode lottery. Warwickshire health care bosses should be ashamed! They argue they have an exceptional cases policy, but over 50 patients have applied for treatment and all have been refused funding. By making it impossible for anyone to qualify for funding, the PCT is heartlessly letting patients in their care go blind, rather than pay for the treatment that could save their sight."

76 year old Raymond Liggins cares for his wife Olive who has suffered a stroke. He fears that without treatment he might not be able to look after his wife and his own quality of life would be shattered. He said: “It’s morally wrong to let people go blind when there are treatments available. Olive depends on me so how can I care for her if I go blind? If I lived with my son in Scotland I’d get my treatment free on the NHS. So why is Warwickshire PCT forcing me to fight for my sight?”

78 year old Jean Middleton, a former government officer for Birmingham City Council and special needs teacher added: “There’s not much time left to save my sight and I know there are many more people in Warwickshire facing the same fate. The situation is desperate."

RNIB is supporting the claimants in instructing law firm Irwin Mitchell, in the hope that this landmark case will force Warwickshire PCT to change its policy and treat Mr Liggins, Mrs Middleton, Miss Meadows and other patients in Warwickshire, before they go blind. The charity hopes this legal action will send a strong signal to other PCTs across the country that they shouldn't wait for NICE final guidance, expected later this year, to save the sight of patients in their care.

Irwin Mitchell successfully fought for cancer sufferers to get the drug Herceptin - the first case of its kind. Mhairi Walker from Irwin Mitchell said: "As with many drugs prescribed by doctors but denied to patients by the administrators working within PCTs, it is essential that the priority in any decision taken is the clinical need and welfare of the patient. The consultants have said these vulnerable patients will go blind without this drug treatment. This case highlights the injustice felt by many people desperate to save their sight."

The National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence's (NICE) most recent draft guidance, issued in April 2008 announced that all PCTs in England and Local Health Boards in Wales will soon have to fund the sight-saving drug Lucentis for patients with wet AMD. In England more than half of PCTs are already providing sight-saving treatment to patients who need it, but many others still carry out unacceptably restrictive funding policies.

The Governments in Northern Ireland and Wales have recently decided to provide £8million and £5million respectively to ensure that all patients with wet AMD who are likely to benefit from treatment will get it. In Scotland, anti-VEGF drugs have been available on the NHS for over a year.

The postcode lottery of treatment for wet AMD is a result of one of the longest appraisals in NICE's history, which still continues. Once final guidance is published by NICE, PCTs would be legally obliged to follow it. Until that time it is each PCTs responsibility to decide their own policy for funding treatments.

Last year, RNIB supported legal action against Oxfordshire PCT for operating a similar blanket ban that was routinely denying patients access to AMD treatments. Faced with a hearing in the High Court to defend its position, the PCT agreed to change its funding policy before the case reached court.

A verdict is expected next week.

NICE campaign - further information

[End of press release]

To attend the press call or for further media information or to interview case studies or an RNIB spokesperson, please contact Yashoda Sutton, Bill Alker or Christina Nicolaidou, RNIB Press Office, on 020 7391 2223 (out of hours mobile: 07968 482812). Reference: 34

Notes to Editors

1. Wet AMD is the leading cause of sight loss in the UK and can lead to blindness in as little as three months. Each year 26,000 people in the UK develop wet AMD and approximately a quarter of a million people in the UK are thought to have the condition. People need prompt treatment if they are to minimise the risk of permanent sight loss.

2. Two anti-VEGF treatments are licensed for use on the NHS: Macugen, marketed by Pfizer, was licensed for use in May 2006, and Lucentis, marketed by Novartis was licensed for use in January 2007.

3. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is currently appraising Macugen and Lucentis. Until NICE issues final guidance, the Department of Health says it has ‘made it clear to PCTs that funding for treatments should not be withheld simply because guidance from NICE is unavailable’. The appraisal began in February 2006.

4. Warwickshire PCT does not fund anti-VEGF drugs despite draft guidance issued (2 April 2008) by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

5. Every day another 100 people will start to lose their sight. There are around two million people in the UK with sight problems. RNIB is the leading charity working in the UK offering practical support, advice and information for anyone with sight difficulties. If you, or someone you know, has a sight problem, RNIB can help. Call the RNIB Helpline on 0845 766 9999 or visit www.rnib.org.uk

6. RNIB and The Macular Disease Society launched an AMD advocacy service called Action for AMD Treatments. Any patient needing help accessing licensed anti-VEGF treatments should call RNIB’s Helpline on 0845 766 9999.

Content author: pressoffice@rnib.org.uk

Last updated: 09/07/2008 17:09