Tomlinson husband feels let down

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/7308617.stm

Version 0 of 1.

The widower of charity fund-raiser Jane Tomlinson says he feels let down by the government's "inaction" to tackle the provision of cancer drugs.

Since his wife's death in September, Mike Tomlinson has been campaigning to raise the issue of access to life-extending drugs.

He met health chiefs last November but said he was still waiting to hear back.

His wife died aged 43 after suffering with cancer for many years. She raised more than £1.75m for cancer charities.

Father of three Mr Tomlinson said his wife was forced to travel from Leeds to Nottingham to receive the life-extending drug Lapatinib because the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust had not taken part in the access study for the treatment.

We won't let this issue go - we will fulfil Jane's wishes and ensure a more equitable system is available Mike Tomlinson

He said it was incumbent on government ministers to review the system and reduce the time taken between drugs trials and licensing so patients had speedier access.

Mr Tomlinson will raise the issue in a special report on BBC Radio 5 Live on Sunday.

He said he had asked the government and Health Secretary Alan Johnson for an interview for the programme, but they had refused and instead sent a six-page statement.

"It's extremely disappointing to think that the government, which so highly praised Jane, are not prepared to sit down and discuss these issues face to face in a public forum," he said.

"The system is discriminatory and people are suffering as a consequence.

"We won't let this issue go. We will fulfil Jane's wishes and ensure a more equitable system is available in the UK."