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Jimmy's joy after cancer drug U-turn
LUNG cancer sufferer Jimmy Jenkyns is celebrating today after health chiefs decided to fund a life-prolonging drug.
In an astonishing u-turn, South Tyneside Primary Care Trust (PCT) has said it will pay for two months worth of Tarceva for Mr Jenkyns.
The 55-year-old has been paying for the drug himself at a cost of 1,700 a month for the last five months.
And Tarceva has worked wonders for Mr Jenkyns, from Bainbridge Avenue, Simonside, South Shields.
A scan in July showed the tumour on his lung had shrunk by a third and some secondary tumours had disappeared.
Although not a cure, Tarceva is less invasive than chemotherapy and has been shown to give patients a better quality of life.
The PCT had refused to fund the drug because it has not yet been approved by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice).
But Mr Jenkyns, who was diagnosed in April last year, and wife Deanne, 40, who run their own cleaning business, have led a high-profile campaign to make the drug available on the NHS.
A delighted Mrs Jenkyns contacted the Gazette within minutes of hearing the news they had been hoping for.
She said: "When they first told me I was a bit bewildered because we have fought for so long, but it has all been worth it. I hope Nice will now approve it.
"I'm going to a Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation Conference next week and it will be lovely to say 'we fought for it and won'."
Mr Jenkyns, a grandfather-of-one, is due another scan in two months, and hopes the PCT will continue to fund the drug if it shows it is still having an impact.
"I'm over the moon that they have agreed to fund the drug, but I think they are still hedging their bets a bit," he said.
"However, it is a boost for me and anybody else that is fighting for it."
Dr Judy Thomas, executive director of public health for NHS South of Tyne and Wear, which covers South Tyneside Primary Care Trust, said: "This decision was made on an individual case basis only in response to personal circumstances presented by Mr Jenkyns.
"It has no implications regionally on whether or not Tarceva is provided generally on the NHS."
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Weather for South Shields
Friday 10 February 2012
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