Manchester Evening News (KC) 20-May-09
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Cancer drug gran dies
A GRANDMOTHER who won a landmark battle forcing health chiefs to pay for a life extending cancer drug has died.
Jean Murphy, 62, took her fight to get a pioneering kidney cancer drug called Sutent on the NHS to the High Court, and her case helped force a change in the rules, which made the treatment widely available in England earlier this year.
An anonymous donor who read about the legal battle gave her the money to start treatment and she responded so well that Salford health bosses agreed to start paying for it last August – her health improved dramatically on the drug and it extended her life by almost a year.
But Mrs Murphy died of heart failure surrounded by her family last night after a short illness.
Her daughter Cathy, 37, said: “My mum was a fighter all her life. She hated injustice and she was never afraid to speak out against it.
“She was outraged when she was told she could not have the treatment she needed and every time she was told ‘no’ it made her more determined to fight.
“We are so glad she fought and won Sutent because it encouraged other people to fight too – and it dramatically improved her health, we believe we would have lost her months ago if she had not had it.”
Mrs Murphy died at St Anne’s Hospice where she had been cared for since last Friday.
Before she began treatment Mrs Murphy had become virtually housebound, was using a wheelchair, oxygen supply and stair-lift but within a few weeks of starting treatment she began shopping and socialising again.
Prof Robert Hawkins, her doctor at The Christie hospital said: “I will always remember Jean as a strong, warm and brave person. Her fight to get Sutent not only helped her but also helped others to get it as well. My thoughts are with Jean’s family and friends at this difficult time.”
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