A CANCER patient who raised £36,000 to fund a life-extending drug has received a devastating NHS snub.
Karen Gault, 43, who has bowel cancer, launched a fundraising drive after health bosses ruled out giving her the drug Avastin, which she believes will give her extra years with husband Paul and three-year-old daughter Grace.
The family, from Jesmo
nd, Newcastle, managed to raise enough for the drug with support from family and friends.
But Mr Gault has revealed that the NHS now deems his wife to be a private patient.
As a result bosses say they will not fund the standard free chemotherapy and drugs she was receiving before she started her course of Avastin 10 weeks ago.
The Government is opposed to the so-called "co-payments" because they would lead to patients in the same NHS ward receiving different drugs based solely on their ability to pay.
Mr Gault, 48, said he thought it was "some kind of sick joke" when he was informed his wife would no longer receive the standard cancer treatments.
He said: "If you go for a private drug you effectively drop out of the NHS. I'm not medically qualified, but it took me about five minutes to pick holes in that argument.
"You can pay a dentist extra for a fancy crown, you can take IVF drugs into the NHS.
"I've written to the medical director of the primary care trust and asked if, as an interim measure, he would pay for the standard chemotherapy that the Trust would pay for anyway. Otherwise, we'll be paying £5,000 a month."
A Newcastle Primary Care Trust spokeswoman said: "While we understand that it is distressing for patients to be told a drug will not be made available, we need to take into consideration the real clinical benefits a drug may provide.
"Unfortunately we are advised in this case that Avistan is not an effective chemotherapy treatment for colorectal cancer."
A Department of Health spokesman said: "It is a fundamental principle of the NHS that treatment should be free at the point of need.
"Co-payments would undermine this principle as they involve an element of subsidy of private treatment by the taxpayer. People have always been free to choose to pay for private treatment if they wish."
