AS THE veil of blindness closes over Peter Jinks's eyes, things that the rest of us take for granted have become for him an impossibility.
He cannot drive. Cannot read. Cannot watch television or football. Cannot even recognise who is speaking to him.
Yet a course of injections costing less than £1,500 could help 45-year-old Peter beat the retinopathy that within months will leave him completely blind.
Trouble is, his local primary care trust refuses to stump up the cash needed.
A spokeswoman says the drug, Avastin, is licensed in the UK only for the treatment of bowel cancer.
For goodness sake untangle this red tape, find the money and give Peter the chance to live a normal life.
Perhaps the pen-pushers with North and East Birmingham PCT may care to reflect that while they study the fine print of Avastin's licence, this unfortunate man cannot read anything at all.
Shameful.
Comments (2)
Surely it would cost the goverment less if they paid for Peters treatment, than to pay him disability for the rest of his life.
Once he has his sight back, then he could get his life back, and back to work.
This in turn would allow all of his family to get back to normal.
Surely he must miss seeing his children, and grand children
Posted by glyn | April 14, 2007 5:56 PM
Posted on April 14, 2007 17:56
Peter is a great family man and always the life and soul of the party. It would be a great shame for friends and family to watch his eyesight deteriorate knowing that there is a cure out there, it is not a big strain for the NHS to give the treatment to save one man's health.
Posted by claire | April 14, 2007 6:03 PM
Posted on April 14, 2007 18:03