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NHS denies MS mum 'miracle' drug
A multiple sclerosis sufferer has told how she is "living a nightmare" because is being denied a wonder drug on the NHS.
Sharon Gibson is desperate to get a prescription for Aimspro which alleviates her symptoms with 20 minutes and helps her live a normal life.
Without the medication the 53-year-old is is constant pain and is unable walk outside without a wheelchair.
Mrs Gibson, who has has MS since she was 22, was chosen to trial the drug in 2001 and noticed an immediate improvement in her health.
But the trial ended in 2005 and since then she has been unable to afford the drug, which costs about £200 a week.
Mrs Gibson said: "The drug was absolutely fantastic and life was good again. For the first time in as long as I could remember I felt like I had a future.
"I started off having one injection a week then I had two. But one day my husband rang up the clinic and was told the trial had stopped.
"On a day-to-day basis without it I feel awful. It is devastating there is a drug out there which I know will change my life but I can't have."
Mrs Gibson, who survived breast cancer in 2000, won £800 playing bingo in 2006 and immediately spent the money on Aimspro to give her some respite from her suffering.
In October 2006 she visited her GP because she was in agony and was given two cortisone injections.
But the pain got worse and she had to pay £6,000 to have the problem treated privately. Surgeons operated on her by removing a disc from her spine which was trapping nerves.
The drug is not ready for the prescription market but people can buy it privately. It costs £3,000 for a 15 weeks supply.
The NHS will only prescribe it in exceptional circumstances but Mrs Gibson said she has been refused the treatment.
A spokesman for Brighton and Hove City Teaching Primary Care Trust said: "Our decisions about which drugs can be prescribed are based on evidence about their effectiveness.
"This particular drug has never been licensed for use in the UK as the trials did not demonstrate that it was an effective remedy for patients with MS.
"We therefore do not fund its use in normal circumstances."
A spokeswoman for the Multiple Sclerosis Resource Centre said: "Aimspro is a very promising drug and we would obviously like to see it licensed and more readily available."
Peter Branch of campaign charity Proventus, which wants Aimspro to be given a license, said: "More or less all of the 150 people in the country who use the drug have to pay for it."
1:41pm Friday 28th March 2008
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CommentPosted by: Grammar Police on 1:51pm Fri 28 Mar 08
Just wondering what happened to that ancient art of proof reading Mr Whelan.
Just wondering what happened to that ancient art of proof reading Mr Whelan.
Posted by: izidor muraben, brighton on 12:24pm Sun 30 Mar 08
dear mr whelan, pls ask sharon gibson to contact me by email / i have personal reasons to want to help ms sufferers and would like to help mrs gibson
dear mr whelan, pls ask sharon gibson to contact me by email / i have personal reasons to want to help ms sufferers and would like to help mrs gibson
Posted by: julie., HOVE on 10:42am Mon 31 Mar 08
(having MS sufferers in my family) , The
Wonder Drug is so expensive.What a shame Sharon had to use her Bingo
win to help pay for her treatment. £200 a week for "Aimspro" Drug .
MS,in certain stages, is life threatening, and should be allowed FREE
for all to reduce chronic pain . To do this we must all Lobby MPs AND
GPs To allow Aimspro to become readily available on the N.H.S. to MS
patients.
(having MS sufferers in my family) , The
Wonder Drug is so expensive.What a shame Sharon had to use her Bingo
win to help pay for her treatment. £200 a week for "Aimspro" Drug .
MS,in certain stages, is life threatening, and should be allowed FREE
for all to reduce chronic pain . To do this we must all Lobby MPs AND
GPs To allow Aimspro to become readily available on the N.H.S. to MS
patients.
Posted by: MS carer, Brighton on 4:58pm Mon 31 Mar 08
This is a classic piece of sensationalist nonsense. The makers of Aimspro have been under criminal investigation for its marketing of this unproven drug. It looks more like a case of a greedy pharmaceutical company exploiting the vulnerable. The Argus should spend 5 minutes on Google before printing such rubbish. Aimspro has never been available on the NHS, it is NOT A LICENSED DRUG!! ARGUS JOURNALISTS, PLEASE DO YOUR JOBS PROPERLY!!
http://www.msrc.co.u
k/index.cfm?fuseacti
on=show&pageid=1773
This is a classic piece of sensationalist nonsense. The makers of Aimspro have been under criminal investigation for its marketing of this unproven drug. It looks more like a case of a greedy pharmaceutical company exploiting the vulnerable. The Argus should spend 5 minutes on Google before printing such rubbish. Aimspro has never been available on the NHS, it is NOT A LICENSED DRUG!! ARGUS JOURNALISTS, PLEASE DO YOUR JOBS PROPERLY!!
http://www.msrc.co.u
k/index.cfm?fuseacti
on=show&pageid=1773
Posted by: MIcky N, Surrey on 7:09pm Mon 31 Mar 08
Since Aimspro has no real side effects I would like to be allowed to find out for myself whether it works. Life couldn't get much worse, so a chance at something might be nice. I can't find a doctor prepared to prescribe the stuff anyway. It is criminally expensive and feeding off our desire for a cure. But hey, even knowing that I would give it a go for a few months to find out.
Since Aimspro has no real side effects I would like to be allowed to find out for myself whether it works. Life couldn't get much worse, so a chance at something might be nice. I can't find a doctor prepared to prescribe the stuff anyway. It is criminally expensive and feeding off our desire for a cure. But hey, even knowing that I would give it a go for a few months to find out.
Posted by: julie, Hove on 11:18am Wed 2 Apr 08
Hello Micky just to say, yes I entirely agree with you, as I have 3 suffering ms at different stages. I am 0.A.P. i FELT SO strong about all this I have sent a copy of my email. to MP Gordon Brown. to get this drug Aimspro free all over the world, to alleviate pain, and maybe wheelchairs and scooters free. All drugs any kind may have, side effects, but also prayers are very important, and meditation to soft music. When we give and pay money on other things in the world, health comes first? in all. and I know of one relation, not in this area,could not get a drug, because out area. God bless.+no Im not ms.I did have Polio when small. I have seen relations falling over indoors if unattended. Im thinking of getting A collection up for it, on the streets, officially.take care.
Hello Micky just to say, yes I entirely agree with you, as I have 3 suffering ms at different stages. I am 0.A.P. i FELT SO strong about all this I have sent a copy of my email. to MP Gordon Brown. to get this drug Aimspro free all over the world, to alleviate pain, and maybe wheelchairs and scooters free. All drugs any kind may have, side effects, but also prayers are very important, and meditation to soft music. When we give and pay money on other things in the world, health comes first? in all. and I know of one relation, not in this area,could not get a drug, because out area. God bless.+no Im not ms.I did have Polio when small. I have seen relations falling over indoors if unattended. Im thinking of getting A collection up for it, on the streets, officially.take care.
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