Cancer heroine's widower attacks minister

Published on Friday 21 March 2008 21:21

The widower of fundraiser Jane Tomlinson yesterday accused the government of being "spineless" for stonewalling his request for answers regarding his late wife's problems in accessing life-extending drugs.

Mike Tomlinson has been trying to raise the issue of "unfair" access to cancer drugs since his wife's death last September.

Mrs Tomlinson, 43, lost her seven-year battle with cancer after raising more than 1.75 million for charity in gruelling endurance events, including three London marathons.

She had had to travel from her home in Leeds to Nottingham to receive the life-extending cancer drug Lapatinib because the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust had not taken part in the access study of the treatment.

In November, Mr Tomlinson met the health minister Ann Keen and the cancer tsar Mike Richards to try to get some answers.

"They promised me they'd report back to me in three months. They didn't. Not one e-mail, not one phone call," he said.

Mr Tomlinson said the government's inaction has forced him on to the airwaves – he intends to raise the issues in a BBC Radio 5 Live special report tomorrow.

The widower said he asked the Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, and the government for an interview for the programme but they refused. "I thought that was a bit spineless, to be honest. These are serious issues. We are not trying to catch anyone out," he added.

Mr Tomlinson said the programme makers were sent a six-page statement.

The programme also features Manchester music mogul Tony Wilson's problems in his battle against kidney cancer. His drug was available, but not nationally approved for use.