‘It’s difficult to live a normal life’: MS patient denied drug in NHS postcode lottery
Imported
Steven Brooks took fampridine as part of a trial but was later told the treatment was no longer available
MS charities decry UK postcode lottery for ‘life-changing’ drug
Steven Brooks’s ability to walk improved significantly when he took the multiple sclerosis drug fampridine for nine months as part of a clinical trial. However, the 67-year-old former butcher’s health has declined since the trial ended and he could not get the drug on the NHS from his local hospital in Essex, because it has not been approved for use in England.
“I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in my mid-30s when I had numbness in my right hand. My doctor put it down to repetitive strain injury from me using a chopper in butchering but it turned out to be MS.
Related: MS charities decry UK postcode lottery for ‘life-changing’ drug
