Is it too much to ask that children with haemophilia get the best and safest treatment?
“After HIV and Hepatitis C, I thought we’d never have to do it again, but this is a never-ending battle. Is it too much to ask that kids with haemophilia get the best and safest treatment?” asks Lynda Quarmby. Mrs Quarmby, from Mossley, near Manchester will today lead a protest march of parents and children to Pendlebury Hospital, part of the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital. Their homemade placards and banners will proclaim their anger and frustration at the reluctance of the National Health Service to pay for what experts agree is the treatment of choice for all haemophiliacs, but which is particularly appropriate for children. It is the latest development in an increasingly bitter battle that has united doctors and parents nationally. They are demanding that every health authority or trust pays for the genetically-engineered version of Factor VIII (recombinant Factor VIII), the clotting agent haemophiliacs depend on for their survival. The recombinant version poses less risk of
