Rt Hon John McFall

Labour Party | West Dunbartonshire

MP supports Clydebank Asbestos Group campaign

MP supports Clydebank Asbestos Group campaign

West Dunbartonshire MP John McFall chaired part of a seminar organised by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Safety and Health at Westminster on Wednesday 16 May.

Following the seminar an Early Day Motion dealing with mesothelioma and access for patients throughout the UK to the drug  Alitma, supported by Mr McFall, was raised by Michael Clapham MP.

Mr McFall said after the seminar that he would be encouraging MPs in the House of Commons to sign the motion – and giving support to the wider campaign being conducted by groups representing asbestosis victims.

And Tommy Gorman, a member of the Clydebank Asbestos Group and Welfare Rights Officer for West Dunbartonshire Council, who spokes at the seminar, said: “We are hoping to publicise this widely throughout the trade unions, Hazards network and support groups.”

The early day motion states that the Commons is aware that since July 2005 mesothelioma victims in Scotland have had access to the drug Alimta, which is the only licensed treatment for this tumour.

It welcomes the decision of the Cancer Networks and primary care trusts that have made Alimta available in parts of England and Wales and urges them and the NHS Quality Improvement Scotland to stand by their decision irrespective of what the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) decides at the appeal hearing.

It notes that Alimta is priced lower in the UK than in other European countries and that the NHS budget impact for 2006 will only be £3 million and is concerned that NICE has indicated that it is currently not minded to recommend Alimta despite accepting its efficacy.

The motion calls for reconsideration of the applicability of its appraisal methodology and recognises the additional duty of care on Government to workers from the former nationalised industries negligently exposed to asbestos.

It calls on the Secretary of State for Health to acknowledge that, in this case, she has a wider social responsibility that goes beyond the NICE definition of cost-effectiveness.

A large number of Westminster MPs have already rallied to the support of the early day motion.

Meanwhile, in Scotland, the Clydebank Asbestos Group has been pressing ahead with the campaign.

As an organisation Clydebank Asbestos Group accepts that it is not appropriate to prescribe Alimta in all cases of Mesothelioma and that this treatment is not a cure.

However, they have submitted a petition to the Scottish Parliament in the knowledge that access to this drug may be denied to many appropriate patients in the future on purely economic grounds.

Clydebank Asbestos Group supported by Clydeside Action on Asbestos and Asbestos Action Tayside lodged the petition before the Scottish Parliament Public Petitions Committee in October.

Tommy Gorman said: “We called on the Scottish Executive to ensure that the current prescribing arrangements for Mesothelioma sufferers, under which the drug Alimta is made available, are continued. In some cases, Alimta can extend the life of a mesothelioma victim and ensure improved quality of life. We feel that there is a responsibility to provide adequate medication for people who suffer from this disease especially in view of the terrible pain that they endure. Economic arguments made in the ensuing debate do not alter this fact.

“Alimta is the only drug available to treat this asbestos-induced disease, a rare form of cancer which is also incurable. The treatment has been available in Scotland since July 2005, based on the advice of the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC). There is now a real concern among asbestos support groups in Scotland that sufferers will be denied the only treatment that is obtainable to them.
 
“Mesothelioma victims contracted this occupational cancer by going to their place of work. Many employers were completely negligent in protecting workers from exposure to asbestos dust. The decision of the Scottish Medicines Consortium to make Alimta available on the NHS remains in the best interests of asbestos sufferers. To deny access to a drug, which can extend their life and greatly reduce the worst features of the disease, would be inhumane. We believe that this treatment should remain freely available to all mesothelioma patients in Scotland through the NHS. “

He added: “A diagnosis of Mesothelioma can have a sudden impact on people who are elderly and looking forward to life with their grandchildren. Unfortunately, in some cases, the time between diagnosis and death is two or three months. Generally, it is eight to nine months; the more fortunate will survive for a year.

“Alimta purchase costs to the NHS are less expensive than in other European nations. It is available to Mesothelioma patients in France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States. Other countries that make Alimta available to Mesothelioma patients are Poland, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Hungary and Romania. These are countries, which have joined or are hoping to enter the European Union and aspire to the economic growth that we have in Scotland, yet their economies can provide this treatment.

“Contextual differences were either present or absent when the initial decision to allow Alimta to be prescribed within the NHS in Scotland was made. We regard this as a diversion from our main focus which is the continued availability of this treatment for current and future Mesothelioma patients in Scotland.

“It would be an injustice if the supply of Alimta to Mesothelioma sufferers in Scotland were discontinued. In this we include the prescribing status of future patients. We feel that the withdrawal of Alimta would introduce a democratic deficit. Health is a devolved matter; any determination should be made in Scotland by members elected to the Scottish Parliament.

“Our affiliates request that all MSPs reflect on the availability of Alimta in the same spirit they considered the Rights of Relatives to Damages (Mesothelioma) (Scotland) Bill 2006 and compel the Scottish Executive to reassure current and future Mesothelioma patients that the provision of Alimta will remain free and available in Scotland. Decisions taken elsewhere should have no impact on Scottish Mesothelioma patients within a devolved health service.”