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#GPnews: Judge orders NHS to reconsider drug funding decision

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9:20 NHS England have been ordered to reconsider its decision to not fund a life-changing drug for a 7-year-old boy who has phenylketonuria, a rare condition that means he cannot break down an amino acid.

The BBC reports that the parents of the boy want a drug called Kuvan to help him metabolise phenylalanine, an amino acid found in some proteins, which would cost about £100 a day.

They brought about a judicial review, and Mr Justice Andrews agreed that NHS England must reconsider its decision to turn down an individual funding request from a consultant at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, who applied on the grounds the boy’s case was ‘exceptional’.

The family’s counsel, Ian Wise QC, told the court that differing reasons had been given by NHS England for repeatedly refusing the funding for the drug.

But Mrs Justice Andrews said: ’Whilst this judgment is bound to give rise to a degree of optimism, I must caution against raising hopes too high.

’The fact that this claim for judicial review has succeeded does not mean that there will necessarily be a favourable outcome to this IFR (individual funding request) application.’