This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/7029234.stm

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Tomlinsons make drug review call Tomlinsons make drug review call
(about 7 hours later)
Fund-raiser Jane Tomlinson's family and the NHS trust that treated her are calling for a review of the availability of advanced trial drugs. Fund-raiser Jane Tomlinson's family and the NHS trust that treated her have called for a review of the availability of advanced trial drugs.
Mrs Tomlinson's husband Mike is to draw attention to discrepancies which saw his wife refused cancer treatment that was available elsewhere in the UK. Mrs Tomlinson's husband Mike said she found it "distressing" that she could not get access to Lapatinib, when it was available elsewhere in the UK.
Along with the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, he will ask the government to stop it happening to other patients. Along with the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, he has asked the government to stop it happening to other patients.
Mrs Tomlinson died in September, aged 43, after a seven-year cancer battle.Mrs Tomlinson died in September, aged 43, after a seven-year cancer battle.
Mr Tomlinson said: "Jane Tomlinson has asked that following her death an ongoing serious national issue in the NHS be raised publicly. Mr Tomlinson said his wife's medical team in Leeds decided Lapatinib was her best option.
"This is an issue which directly affected her care in the last few months of her life." 'Caused distress'
While terminally-ill, Mrs Tomlinson raised more than £1.5 million for charity by running in three London Marathons, several triathlons and The Great North Run. However, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust had taken the decision not to participate in a GlaxoSmithKline-sponsored access study of the treatment.
He told reporters: "Clearly it was quite distressing for Jane to find that she would no longer be able to have the treatment that everyone thought would be most suitable for her.
"It caused a lot of distress to her and a lot of upset."
Mr Tomlinson said further approaches were made to the drug company itself and to the NHS in Nottingham, where she was eventually accepted on to the trial in April.
He added: "During those three months Jane suffered a severe decline in health and certainly by the end of March she felt that she was almost at the end of her life.
"There was no doubt in our minds that delay and inability to get treatment had a long-term impact on Jane's health at that time.
'Extremely cross'
"Clearly... we were raising money for the hospital at the same time as Jane's options were being limited.
"We made a conscious decision to continue supporting the Yorkshire Cancer Centre and the Trust because we felt not doing so would be petulant and wrong.
"Our aim was to try and help those people who were suffering like Jane."
Mr Tomlinson said his wife was extremely proud to have worked for the trust and said it had her "unflinching support" as an employee. Mrs Tomlinson worked as a radiographer.
However, he added: "She was extremely cross that there were inconsistencies across the health service which allowed some patients treatment and some patients not treatment."
While terminally-ill, Mrs Tomlinson raised more than £1.75 million for charity by running in three London Marathons, several triathlons and The Great North Run.