Sheldon mum fears son could die if drug treatment is restricted on NHS

A heartbroken Birmingham mum has told how she may have to watch her seriously ill son die because of a delay in a life-saving medicine becoming available.

Sarah Green's son Bradley, 11, has the life-limiting condition Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which will lead to his muscles wasting away over time.

Sarah, 39, from Sheldon, said the family now face a race against time to save her son unless new a new drug called Translarna - given approval by the European Commission - is licensed quickly in the UK.

She is backing a national drive called Fast Forward by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, calling for cutting edge treatments for sufferers to be delivered without delays.

Translarna is currently going through NHS approval and funding processes and, if successful, it could be licensed as early as April 2015.

But the cost of the drug on the NHS could restrict its use as treatments for other types of muscle-wasting conditions can be as high as 100,000 per year.

A Government report revealed hundreds of children with life-limiting conditions could face agonising waits for new drugs to reach them because of the way they are funded and assessed.

Sarah, a full-time carer to Bradley and mum to his two-year-old brother George, said: We face a life sentence having to watch our children die, knowing there are people out there doing research and there is a treatment.

It seems those in charge are not looking at us as a family and what we are going through.

"We are not happy in our life as we watch what our child is going through. And I speak on behalf of other parents of sufferers out there.

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Sheldon mum fears son could die if drug treatment is restricted on NHS