Tomlinson drug meeting 'positive'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/west_yorkshire/7102373.stm

Version 0 of 1.

The widower of charity fund-raiser Jane Tomlinson says he has had a "positive" meeting with government ministers over the provision of cancer drugs.

Mike Tomlinson and members of the Leeds NHS trust asked ministers to consider reducing the time taken between drugs trials and licensing.

Mrs Tomlinson asked her husband to raise the issue of "unfair" access to life-extending drugs after her death.

She died in September, aged 43, after a seven-year cancer battle.

Mr Tomlinson, a father of three, also suggested to health minister Ann Keen and government cancer tsar, professor Mike Richards, that provisional licensing be considered for drugs that have been licensed abroad.

'Working in partnership'

Speaking after Monday's meeting at the Department of Health, Mr Tomlinson said: "Jane asked that as a consequence of personal experiences in the latter stages of her life some issues regarding access to trial drugs be raised upon her death.

"Today's meeting with Ann was positive and I look forward to working in partnership with her in the future."

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 of the treatment.

Ministers needed to do more to ensure there was equal access to cancer drugs for patients that needed them, he added.

Following the meeting, Ms Keen said: "We have discussed a number of issues relating to the availability of cancer drugs today.

"Along with Professor Mike Richards, I am committed to addressing the issues that Mike Tomlinson raised.

"We will report back to Mike within three months and will consider if there's anything further we can do in government to help cancer patients like Jane."