Archive news from the Sentinel and other sources on "Women Fighting for Herceptin"

Nurse awaits cancer drug ruling
30 Sep: A nurse fighting breast cancer faces an anxious wait to know whether her bid to be prescribed a life-saving drug has been successful after meeting health officials. Barbara Clark, 49, of Bridgwater, Somerset, is taking legal action in an attempt to get the expensive drug Herceptin

The Sun Newspaper - Breast Cancer Campaign
30 Sep: By JANE SYMONS and HENRY BIGGS
LOOK closely at the faces of these four women. One will DIE because a life-saving breast cancer drug is being denied to NHS patients. Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has the power to save her — and thousands like her.  So today Sun Health campaigns to demand she makes the treatment freely available.

How many more women must die?
29 Sep : Breast cancer sufferers fighting to get Herceptin on the NHS have received the heartbreaking news that the wonder-drug will not be available to treat them for 18 months - unless the Government intervenes.

It's crazy it is not on the NHS - more of us are going to die
29 Sep : Women Fighting for Herceptin leader Dot Griffiths, aged 58, of Hartshill, said: "The data already available is strong enough for the Government to allow it to be used now. It is already being used in France, Germany and Italy, so is it any less safe in Britain?"

The mum who could have been saved
29 Sep : Inspirational campaigner Pauline Hulme was so angry at being denied Herceptin to treat her breast cancer she had threatened to chain herself to the railings outside 10 Downing Street. That was around four years ago as Pauline, of Longton, helped lead a national campaign to get Herceptin on the NHS to treat secondary cancers.

MPs should have joined herceptin march
28 Sep : Sir, - I was very sorry that Dot Griffiths, leader of the Women Fighting For Herceptin campaign, could not make the journey to London after all her hard work organising the trip. What a brave lady she is to do this for hundreds of breast cancer sufferers. I think her name should go forward for the Honours list, which she deserves. Reading The Sentinel on Friday, I was disgusted that none of the local MPs were in London to meet these ladies. They are not worth their seats in the House of Commons. I hope people will think about this at the next election. They all should have been there to support them. I hope that the Department of Health will come to its senses and give the drug now. If not many more women will die before it is available. The Government is playing with people's lives if it doesn't fund this drug. Weeks ago I saw photographs of MPs in The Sentinel saying they supported the campaign and yet no-one turned up to support them publicly. I should like to congratulate The Sentinel for its campaign. It has certainly made readers sit up, with the 35,000 signatures on the Herceptin petition. I would like to wish all these ladies all the best. God bless them all, especially Dot Griffiths. She has got my full support in what she is trying to do for thousands of cancer sufferers. DV PALMER Werrington

Politicians hide behind red tape
28 Sep : Sir, - Well, surprise surprise - the Government, in its wisdom, has refused to back down on the cancer drug Herceptin fiasco. I use the word 'fiasco' because that is what the politicians have made this issue. Despite a 35,000-signature petition it still insists on hiding behind a smoke-screen of red tape and bureaucracy rather than doing the sensible and humane thing. Let us not be bamboozled by these time-wasting MPs who could, if they chose, do the decent thing and resolve this shameful situation. What are they afraid of? To everyone out there who actually cares about the cancer sufferers - please, if you have not already done so, write today to your local MP demanding that the Government sees the error of its ways and makes Herceptin available, on the National Health Service, to all cancer sufferers who need the drug. AW BENTLEY Bradeley Village

Stop blaming government
28 Sep : Sir, - Your campaign against the NHS belittles the splendid work done by nurses, doctors and ancillary staff. Given that some 30,000 people are fighting for Herceptin at an additional cost of £1.2 billion per annum, who will pay? Which resources are to be curtailed? Perhaps The Sentinel has an answer, or better still it should campaign for the drugs companies to lower their charges, and not keep blaming the Government. P BURTON Oakamoor

I'm praying for cancer victims
28 Sep : Sir, - I've been reading a lot in the press about the petition for Herceptin for the cancer victims, where there is a genuine need for money to cover this medication. I had a breast operation four years ago. Thankfully, I just required radiotherapy and I thank God everything has been well since. But I do feel strongly for the needs of these present victims. Please, please let something be done to direct the necessary money to these more needy causes. I pray it will happen soon during my lifetime. KATHLEEN CAPEWELL Newcastle

It's an insult to the ladies
28 Sep : Sir, - I must write in a fit of rage that none of the region's MPs attended the women Fighting for Herceptin campaign at Number 10, Downing Street. I find it totally disgusting and an insult to the ladies that not one local MP could lend some moral support to them. These ladies are an inspiration to us all with their fight and determination and I was proud to support them through The Sentinel petition. Shame on you, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire MPs. Here's hoping you never have to deal with a fraction of what these women deal with. ROBERT BARRS Hanley

Women may target Labour conference
24 Sep : Cancer campaigners are hoping to organise some form of protest during next week's Labour Party conference in Brighton. Women Fighting For Herceptin campaigners have been disappointed with the response they received from Labour MP Rosie Winterton, during a meeting at the Department of Health in London on Thursday.

We're in the pink for cancer appeal fund
26 Sep : Supporters flocked to a bazaar at the Royal Infirmary Social Club, in Hartshill, on Saturday to show their backing for the Herceptin campaign.

Keep on fighting
26 Sep : The last remaining survivor of America's first trial of the wonder-drug Herceptin 13 years ago has backed the English cancer sufferers fighting to get their treatment on the NHS.

Small price for the gift of life
26 Sep : Sir, - Has commonsense gone out of every window in this country? Millions of pounds are paid out in social security benefits every week. Why not stop £2 from everyone in receipt of such handouts and funding for Herceptin will be instant. After all what will £2 buy today? Nothing, except the gift of life for these women and their families who are surely suffering enough. Also add unclaimed lottery money and the funding will roll in. It's not rocket science. CHRISTINA COOK Weston Coyney

An emotional rollercoaster
23 Sep : The ringing alarm clock at 4.30am marked the start of what Alison Poole hoped would be a historic day for the Women Fighting For Herceptin campaign.

A plea they cannot ignore
22 Sep : Campaigners fighting for Herceptin to be made available on the NHS will ensure their message is seen in London today thanks to a printing firm. Councillor Barbara Beeston, who is a friend of Dot Griffiths, is due to accompany the Women Fighting For Herceptin campaigners on the march in the capital.

Campaigners march on London
22 Sep : Jo-anne Leese, aged 30, of Alsager, Mary Potts, aged 47, of Packmoor, Alison Poole, aged 44, of Bagnall, Melanie Waite, aged 43, of Clayton, Elaine Barber, aged 41, of Abbey Hulton, Linda Stokes, aged 47, of Dresden, and Lynne Burton, aged 56, of Clayton, and Judie Evans, aged 55, of Werrington. All the women have early stage Her2 cancer, a particularly aggressive form, and are denied the drug on the NHS.

Cancer battle inspires Aussie women
22 Sep : Cancer patients on the other side of the world are keeping a close eye on the fight for a life-saving cure in Britain - because they could soon be set to embark on the same battle Down Under. Australian cancer patients are in the same position as their counterparts in this country. The drug Herceptin is available to treat advanced cancer, but not for primary cancer.

Herceptin women to sue NHS
22 Sep : Cancer victims fighting for the life-saving drug Herceptin to be made available on the NHS are to sue four primary care trusts in a joint claim. The Women Fighting For Herceptin campaign will take their fight for the revolutionary drug to the High Court.

Thousands send support to campaigners' website
21 Sep : Campaigners have received backing in their fight for Herceptin from all over Britain and the rest of the world. Since Women Fighting For Herceptin set up its own website, it has received thousands of hits from fellow breast cancer patients from as far away as America.

Prince's charity backs battle
20 Sep : Prince Charles's breast cancer charity has supported calls for a potentially life-saving drug to be provided to all women who need it on the NHS. The Prince of Wales wrote to Hartshill campaigner Dot Griffiths to show his support for her struggle when she launched a fight for Herceptin for her own use in 2001.

Cancer campaigners are in the pink
20 Sep : Cancer campaigners will be dressed in colourful style when they march on 10 Downing Street. Members of the Women Fighting For Herceptin campaign will all be immaculately turned out in pink when they arrive in the capital on Thursday to hand in a petition to Prime Minister Tony Blair ahead of a meeting with Rosie Winterton MP at the Department of Health. They have been given 30 pink T-shirts by Martins of Longton, supplied by Peggy Sue wholesalers, all bearing the campaign's Need Herceptin Straight Away logo.

Beauty spot
20 Sep : Rita Stevenson has been a friend of Dot Griffiths for the past 40 years. That long lasting friendship has led the 56-year old from Leek Road, Hanley, to become heavily involved in the campaign for Herceptin. Do you have a beauty secret?

14,000 demand drug
19 Sep : Campaigners on a quest to get a life-saving cancer drug prescribed on the NHS have smashed through their target of getting 10,000 names on a petition. More than 3,000 names have been added to the document calling for Herceptin to be prescribed by the health service for treatment of early stage cancer just by readers returning forms to The Sentinel office at Etruria.

Dying nurse sues NHS for denying her cancer drug
Anushka Asthana, Martyn Halle and Jemma Gander
Sunday September 18, 2005 The Observer
A nurse with breast cancer is taking legal action to force the NHS to prescribe her a powerful, life-saving drug which could significantly increase her life expectancy.

Knitting In Support Of  Women's Campaign
19 Sep : A 97-year-old is doing her bit to help younger women with breast cancer survive to become grandmothers like her. Pensioner Elizabeth Critchlow is determined to do her bit for the Women Fighting For Herceptin campaign.

Friends forever, uniting in their battle to beat cancer
19 Sep : Relationships formed in personal adversity can create bonds which last a lifetime.

Get on the bus
17 Sep : People are being asked to dig deep to help get breast cancer victims to London. Members of the Women Fighting For Herceptin campaign are travelling to the capital on Thursday to hand in a 10,000-name petition at 10 Downing Street calling for the life-saving drug Herceptin to be made available on the NHS to women with early-stage breast cancer.

Super dot gives us the
17 Sep : Women suffering from cancer have spoken of their admiration for the "awesome" campaigner who has inspired them to fight for life saving drugs they are being denied on the NHS. Dot Griffiths was told she was going to die in 2001 but she refused it.

Brave dot is public face of private battle
17 Sep : Dorothy Griffiths is the formidable campaigner leading the fight for Herceptin to be provided on the NHS. The 58-year-old from Hartshill is the inspiration to dozens of women battling cancer who draw strength from Dot's optimism and force of will.

I'll fight through the courts to save my life
16 Sep : A Campaigner fighting for the breast cancer drug Herceptin to be made available on the NHS is taking her health trust to the High Court. Somerset campaigner Barbara Clark - who has already met with her North Staffordshire counterparts in the Women Fighting For Herceptin campaign - has instructed human rights lawyers to pursue a court action against the NHS.

Geller's show of support for her2 struggle
16 Sep : Celebrity spiritualist Uri Geller has invited the women campaigning for Herceptin to visit him at his home so he can advise them on the power of positive thinking. The world's most famous spoon bender has offered his support to the women fighting the system to provide them with the life saving drug Herceptin and has invited them to visit him at his Berkshire home.

Hope in fight to beat killer cancer
15 Sep : Trials in America have revealed that the life-saving drug Herceptin showed a massive drop in the risk of tumours returning when it was administered at the same time as chemotherapy. The Women Fighting For Herceptin campaign want the drug to receive a licence for use to treat early stage breast cancer in Britain after global tests showed it can dramatically improve survival rates when used after chemotherapy.

£40,000 - price of life for those who can pay
14 Sep : Some women with early stage cancer are already receiving the life-saving drug Herceptin - but only because they have private healthcare or have opted to pay up to £40,000 for the treatment themselves. At present, NHS patients must wait for the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) to approve the use of Herceptin in Her2 positive cancer before it can be prescribed.

Dreaded disease could be killed off... If NHS will pay the price
13 Sep : Cancer could be a manageable condition within 20 years, according to the manufacturers of life-saving drug Herceptin. Roche - the company behind the drug, which has been proven to buy terminally-ill cancer patients precious years and could prevent tumours returning in early stage patients - believes cancer care is at the same stage as the fight against Aids two decades ago.

Dot is marching on to save other women
13 Sep : Dot Griffiths should have died four years ago. The fact that she is still alive today is down as much to her sheer determination and fighting spirit as it is to the drug Herceptin. Dot, now 58, was told the aggressive cancer which had spread from her breast and riddled her body would kill her in 2001, but after discovering Herceptin, and its power to help women with aggressive Her2 cancer survive, she snatched at the tiny ray of hope it offered.

Pay the price... Or we will die
12 Sep : Women dying of breast cancer say they are being crushed by the red tape and bureaucracy which is denying them a revolutionary cancer drug which could save their lives. The Women Fighting For Herceptin campaign is demanding funding and licensing of the drug, which has been shown in global trials to be successful in preventing tumours from returning in early stage cancer.

Sign up now to herceptin life or death battle
12 Sep : Women from across the country will join North Staffordshire campaigners in a mass march on Downing Street to demand the Government funds a life-saving drug for breast cancer before more sufferers die. Members of the Women Fighting For Herceptin campaign are taking their fight for funding and licensing of the drug to a new level and are calling on as many supporters as possible to join them on their march.

Can't pay or won't pay?
12 Sep : Bad news, I'm afraid. The diagnosis is breast cancer. And it's the most aggressive form. But there is some hope. There's a great chance of survival if you are treated with Herceptin. One little snag - you must have £40,000 tucked away to pay for it. Alternatively you could emigrate to Germany, France or Canada where it is freely available. That is the message going out every day in the UK to newly-diagnosed sufferers of HER2-positive cancer. It's not that Herceptin is in short supply. There's plenty of it on the shelves of our hospitals. Now. The manufacturers want to sell it. Now. The medical experts want to prescribe it. Now. And desperate women all over the country are pleading to be treated with it. Now. Yet the Department of Health and the Primary Care Trusts who hold the purse strings controlling the nation's well-being, continue to hide behind the invalid excuse that Herceptin has not yet been licensed for early-stage treatment. So they will not pay for it, now. The absurdity of this bureaucratic farce would be almost laughable if the net result was not this: that while Health Minister Patricia Hewitt hangs on to her pennies and the beleaguered PCTs are forced to make more and more Sophie's Choices on who should get a chance to live, children are losing their mothers, mothers are losing their daughters and husbands are losing their wives to a cancer which could be cured. Next week these women, led by their champion Dot Griffiths, will hand over to Downing Street their petition begging for the immediate funding of Herceptin. If you believe in their case add your name to that petition. NOW. They don't have time to waste.

 

Cancer victim's dying wish met by her family
6 Sep : When Joan Berrisford's family read about the plight of women being denied the wonder drug Herceptin they knew immediately how to fulfil the dying wish of the 73-year-old cancer sufferer. It was Mrs Berrisford's last request that money she left to her children be donated to cancer charities.

Huge support for cancer drug campaign
5 Sep : More than a thousand people flocked to show their support for a group of women fighting for a life-saving breast cancer drug by putting their names to a petition calling for the NHS to act now. An endless string of visitors to the Fusion Festival in Hanley soon made their way beneath the eaves of a white gazebo adorned in pink balloons where members of the Women Fighting For Herceptin group eagerly collected their signatures.

BBC - Radio 4 - Womans Hour
25 Aug:  Listen to "Women Fighting for Herceptin" speaking on BBC Womans Hour.  The women are campaigning to get Herceptin to try and ensure their own cancer doesn't become terminal.  You can hear the full interview on line. 

Shock death of cancer drug campaigner at 51
16 Aug : One of the campaigners fighting to get the wonder drug Herceptin on the NHS for all breast cancer sufferers has died from a brain haemorrhage. Eileen Wetton had been a keen supporter of the North Staffordshire-based Women Fighting For Herceptin campaign since her friend Elaine Barber was denied the drug on the NHS.

£1,500 given to fund for women
16 Aug : Kind-hearted Sentinel readers have helped raise £1,500 for the Women Fighting For Herceptin campaign. They have donated cash after being touched by the stories of women fighting breast cancer.

Nurses buy time while debate rages on cancer drug availability. 
North Staffordshire nurse Alison Poole is also campaigning to extend the availability of Herceptin. ‘We are fighting for our lives,’ she said. ‘This waiting time could be the difference between getting a secondary cancer and not getting a secondary. Prescribing Herceptin could save the NHS thousands because the treatment for secondary breast cancer is far more expensive in the long term.’

Tickle us pink and put Herceptin on the NHS
12 Aug : Breast cancer sufferers campaigning for a drug to be made available on the NHS which could buy them precious time have launched a line of T-shirts. The pink T-shirts, featuring the NHS logo down one side reading 'Need Herceptin Soon', have been printed to highlight the plight of women who fear they could die if they are not given the drug.

Give us a little understanding
10 Aug : Sir, - In reply to Mr Roughton, non-executive director of North Stoke Primary Care Trust, it is easy to comment that the group of women fighting for the breast cancer drug Herceptin, should have arrived at the public meeting of the PCT earlier. He says had we done so we would have heard the discussion regarding requests for treatment which were outside the realms already approved by NICE. On the day in question we had a number of members of the group in a meeting with Joan Walley MP which coincided with the meeting of North Stoke PCT. Therefore we arrived in time for the agenda item allocated for the public to speak. Additionally, many of us involved had already had chemotherapy the previous day with its obvious consequences to health and strength. What Mr Roughton did not consider was the following: * All the members of this group are undergoing aggressive chemotherapy treatment or have just completed a course of chemotherapy, the effects include lethargy, lack of energy and a general feeling of being unwell coupled with nausea. * In addition to this the group are attending meetings with PCTs, Members of Parliament, the media and organising fund-raising events. The reason for my response to Mr Roughton is to make clear that on the day in question; none of us could have sat for up to three hours in our present medical condition(s). Therefore we dashed from one meeting to the other to contribute to both. A little understanding of the circumstances of the individuals making up this action group would not go amiss. Mr Roughton has said that every year non-execs have made sure that the PCT has found the money to pay for the treatment that people need but fail to stay within their budget. In this case either the Government is seriously underfunding to meet the health needs of North Staffordshire or the system within the PCT is running inefficiently. We do not have time to wait for next year' s budget to be decided. Cancer does not have any respect for time or budgets. We too have every sympathy with D.A.Roughton no one can possibly imagine losing their child in any circumstances. DOROTHY GRIFFITHS (DOT) Women Fighting for Herceptin

Family and friends have to pay for Jo-anne's cancer treatment
9 Aug : A young mum diagnosed with breast cancer in the first weeks of pregnancy is relying on family and friends to pay for a life-saving treatment she has been denied on the NHS. Jo-anne Leese was devastated after being told the Herceptin drug would not be funded by Central Cheshire Primary Care Trust (PCT).

Year's treatment costs up to £40,000
9 Aug : * Herceptin campaign leader Dot Griffiths, a 58-year-old from Hartshill, has been kept alive by the drug for four years. * The University Hospital of North Staffordshire sees around 400 new cases of breast cancer each year - 40 of which are the right type (HER2 positive cancer) to benefit from Herceptin. A year's treatment costs between £30,000 and £40,000, which means the region's bill would amount to £1.6 million.

Campaigners launch web site
8 Aug : Campaign leader Dot Griffiths, a 58-year-old from Hartshill, has been kept alive by the drug for four years. The University Hospital of North Staffordshire sees around 400 new cases of breast cancer each year - 40 of which are the right type (HER2 positive cancer) to benefit from Herceptin. A year's treatment costs between £30,000 and £40,000, which means the region's bill would amount to around £1.6 million.

Profits from business sale may pay for my Herceptin
8 Aug : A mother-of-four diagnosed with breast cancer may use profits from the sale of her business to fund a life-saving drug she has been denied on the NHS. Judy Evans, a 55-year-old from Werrington, is about to start a gruelling course of chemotherapy to treat the aggressive cancer.

Website to push herceptin campaign
6 Aug : Breast cancer sufferers have taken their fight to get the wonder drug Herceptin prescribed on the NHS onto the information superhighway. The ladies leading the campaign for the drug to be licensed for early stage cancer on the NHS have set up their own web page.

Cancer women march on Downing Street
1 Aug : Breast cancer sufferers fighting to get Herceptin available on the NHS are appealing for people to join their protest march to Downing Street. Members of the Women Fighting For Herceptin group will reveal more details of their London protest following a meeting tomorrow.

Breast cancer battle off to Europe
30 Jul : The leader of the women's group fighting to get Herceptin made available on the NHS for all breast cancer sufferers is planning to take her fight to Europe by attending a conference in Paris. Dot Griffiths, aged 58 of Hartshill, has formed the Women Fighting For Herceptin group to try to force the region's Primary Care Trusts to fund the drug for all breast cancer sufferers.

Rowers Make Waves For Funding
29 Jul : Fitness fans are planning to travel the equivalent of a trip across the English Channel - a distance of 350 miles - on rowing machines to raise funds for the Women Fighting For Herceptin campaign. Members at Body Works Fitness Suite, in Fegg Hayes, are being urged to take part in the challenge and help to raise funds for the campaign.

MPs back calls for cancer drug
28 Jul : Politicians in Staffordshire and Cheshire are increasing the pressure on the Government to make the cancer drug Herceptin available on the NHS as quickly as possible. Members of the campaign group Women Fighting For Herceptin have this week met Stoke-on-Trent North MP Joan Walley to ask her to meet Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt and press for Herceptin to be licensed for early-stage as well as advanced cancer. The call for a meeting came as some of the region's other MPs also contacted the North Staffordshire-based campaign group to pledge their support.

Just how ill is the NHS?
28 Jul : Another day, another NHS 'horror' story. Yesterday it was the continuing row over the availability of the life-saving breast cancer drug Herceptin. Today it is the turn of mum-to-be-very-soon Clare Pheasey who, attempting to find a hospital bed in which to give birth, was told by two hospitals: "No room at the inn." At Crewe's Leighton Hospital, staff sickness had closed the maternity unit. Meanwhile, a mix-up at Stoke-on-Trent's University Hospital Of North Staffordshire then resulted in Mrs Pheasey being turned away before finally finding a berth - and birth - in Macclesfield. Thankfully, when young Heidi made her eventual grand entrance, she did so without complication. Had there been problems however, Mrs Pheasey's experience may have ended up as 'hospital tragedy' rather than the 'irritating incompetence' it was. YET for all the NHS bashing - the headlines screaming 'blunder,' 'scandal' and 'tragic error' - is this really an accurate a picture of the NHS? Are the endless NHS-in-crisis stories fair on the men and women who work so hard to treat the nation's health? It can't be much fun to complete yet another back-breaking 12-hour shift (and for small reward) only to come home, pick up the paper and read yet again how health services are failing. Yet for most of us, our experience of the NHS is overwhelmingly positive (perhaps the reason we are so protective of it). The NHS mops our brow, repairs our families' shattered bones and saves the lives of those we love. Most of all, its much put-upon staff - dedicated, patient, reassuring - have been there for us when we needed them most. Bear them in mind the next you read a hospital-in-scandal/NHS-in-crisis story.

Explain to us why we can't have Herceptin
28 Jul : The Sentinel challenged North Stoke, South Stoke, Staffordshire Moorlands and Newcastle Primary Care Trusts, which hold the purse strings to health provision locally to answer a series of questions on Herceptin, the drug not yet licensed for early breast cancer but which sufferers say can prolong lives and should be funded now

A desperate plea to give them extra time
12:00 - 27 July 2005: When the members of the Women Fighting For Herceptin group heard about a public meeting of North Stoke Primary Care Trust, they saw their chance to plea their case. Mario Cacciottolo saw the exchange between the trust's board members and the women who are battling against cancer.

It's a timebomb .... by March more of us could be dead
27 Jul: Cancer sufferers pleading for Herceptin to be made available on the NHS to buy them valuable time with their loved ones have been told funding would not be available until March next year at the earliest. The news prompted campaign leader Dot Griffiths, a 58-year-old from Hartshill, to warn health chiefs that for many women the issue was a "ticking bomb" and they might be dead by the time budgets were set.

The facts at heart of the debate
28 Jul : The fight to prescribe Herceptin to NHS patients suffering from early stages of breast cancer has become a major talking point. Mario Cacciottolo reports on the facts at the heart of the debate. What is Herceptin?

Group's cancer drug battle goes national
25 Jul : Campaigners fighting for a life-saving breast cancer drug say their battle is now gathering momentum on a national level. A group of North Staffordshire women launched the Women Fighting For Herceptin campaign last week after being denied the miracle drug on the NHS.

Jo-anne has been through enough - it makes me so angry
23 Jul : "HERCEPTIN could give Jo a new lease of life and allow her to watch her son, Nathan, grow up," says Debbie Nixon as she reflects on her sister Jo-anne Leese's fight against breast cancer.

Proof That It Works
22 Jul : Pam Hockey is living proof of the success of Herceptin. The 59-year-old was one of the 23 women from North Staffordshire chosen to take part in global trials of Herceptin.

MPs join battle for cancer drug
21 Jul : North Staffordshire's MPs have met to decide their action plan for lobbying the Government and health officials for the breast cancer drug Herceptin. They discussed the life-saving treatment as they threw their support behind the Fight For Herceptin Campaign, launched this week by a group of women denied the drug on the NHS.
 

Cancer women march on Downing Street
1 Jul : Breast cancer sufferers fighting to get Herceptin available on the NHS are appealing for people to join their protest march to Downing Street. Members of the Women Fighting For Herceptin group will reveal more details of their London protest following a meeting tomorrow.

Cancer campaigners to march in protest
1 Jul : Breast cancer sufferers are planning a series of marches in ther fight to persuade health chiefs to pay for a drug that could buy them precious time. Campaigners want the drug Herceptin freely available on the NHS and are meeting with South Stoke Primary Care Trust (PCT) next week.

Give Them The Drug They Need
1 Jul : Sir, - I can't even start to imagine how the cancer sufferers who need the drug Herceptin must be feeling. My heart goes out to them. I feel angry that they are being deprived of this life-saving drug, while they are being told they must wait until next year due to NHS budgets. What really is annoying is that the Government can find money to fund other things; the first that springs to mind is the 2012 Olympics. The NHS, the education system and many more services are falling apart due to a lack of funding. It's time Blair and Co got their priorities right and put money where it is most needed. I sincerely hope this drug is made readily available for everyone it is suitable for and they can have many more years with their families. Stop bleating about budgets and give these women what they need. D CAWLEY Eaton Park