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UK: Free medicinal cannabis to be given to epileptic children on NHS waitlist as private firms back mother's plea Paul Gallagher iNews Thursday 25 Aug 2022 Dozens of epileptic children will get free medicinal cannabis as medical firms back a mother’s plea to help families struggling to get the treatment on the NHS. Charlotte Caldwell, whose epileptic son Billy helped change the law on medical cannabis, has secured free-to-access care for severely epileptic children which could save private prescription costs of up to £6,000, equivalent to eight months’ treatment. Up to 90 families across the UK applying for NHS funding of their child’s treatment via the Refractory Epilepsy Specialist Clinical Advisory Service (Rescas), a process that can take as long as eight months, could have their medicinal cannabis paid for by the firms while they wait on a decision. If for any reason a patient is refused medicinal cannabis then the manufacturers will stop gifting treatment. Ms Caldwell said: “During the period when Billy was being considered for NHS funding, I was fortunate enough to have his medical cannabis gifted by the manufacturer who was supplying it via a private prescription. Not all patients are as lucky as Billy, which is why I took up the mantle myself and went to the manufacturers to ask them to help. I am delighted to secure such a potentially life changing outcome for fellow paediatric epileptic patients. “We can’t guarantee that these kids will be successful through the Rescas process, but they’re going to get between six and eight months’ medicine gifted to them which will relieve the financial burden for a while in these hard times. And then hopefully have the long-term NHS funding if their case is successful.” Billy, now 17, used to have up to 100 seizures per day but now goes several months without having any. Rescas was set up in 2020 following a legal challenge that Ms Caldwell brought against the UK Government. It provides a much-needed route to NHS-funded medical cannabis, and other “alternative treatment” options, for refractory epilepsy patients under the age of 18. The backing of Althea, Canopy Growth and Cellen, who all manufacture medical cannabis products that are prescribed to epileptic children in the UK, comes just a month after Ms Caldwell launched a new campaign to mark the fourth anniversary of Billy’s medical cannabis being confiscated by Heathrow Airport customs officials, an event which led politicians to change the law to allow doctors to prescribe it. Although medical cannabis has now been prescribed to 17,000 people in UK for a range of conditions including chronic pain, depression, insomnia and Parkinson’s, many are still using the black market. Campaigners say the health service is still reluctant to prescribe the treatment claiming stronger evidence is needed before advising mass prescriptions. Ms Caldwell has called on more medical cannabis manufacturers to supply free medicine to children going through the Rescas process and give other child epilepsy sufferers the support that Billy received. She is urging patients to visit the I Am Billy Foundation website for more details and to register their interest. Ms Caldwell said: “If your child is currently accessing medical cannabis for epilepsy via a private prescription, please do get in touch. While I am unable to guarantee every outcome, my promise to you is that, as a mother previously in the exact circumstances that you currently find yourself, I and the trustees of the I Am Billy Foundation will do all that we possibly can to support your child through the Rescas process, completely free of charge. “Billy and I continue to lobby the other medical cannabis manufacturers and I am confident that this is just the start for wider patient access to medical cannabis via the NHS.” Althea chief executive Joshua Fegan said: “We are passionately committed to improving patient medical cannabis access pathways in the UK. We hope that our support for the foundation will benefit many patients just like Billy, and that it leads to further enhancements of NHS funding programmes for medical cannabis.” The trustees of the I Am Billy Foundation described the project as “a tremendous achievement from a mother driven by her desire to achieve equality for all children”. They said: “What we now call for are those clinics through whom the medications are delivered to show a similar commitment to those in this great need and waive their fees, so that the medication is genuinely ‘free at the point of use’ for these children and their families.” https://inews.co.uk/news/health/free-medicinal-cannabis-epileptic-children-nhs-waitlist-billy-caldwell-mother-1813412?ito=facebook_share_article-top&fbclid=IwAR0aYClJXW6PaW2hic6WvsoZduo4k_XelOucTc9nARg1Wff_LMPFe1Xot5k
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