"We need to work together and get this sorted because we want our children's lives back,"
There is talk of medicinal cannabis being available on prescription in the UK within a month. Currently you can apply to a medical panel for permission to use the drug.
However how easy is it to get to that stage?
One family from South Wales has found just how much false hope is included in the process.Bailey Williams was diagnosed with called Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy. With seizures becoming more and more regular.
“It became every day, twice a day, three times, four times. At one point there was activity every 2.5 seconds,” said Bailey’s father.
Bailey’s family have watched him go from a bundle of joy, full of life to someone that would just sit and do nothing.
“He’s giving up and we’re losing that lovely spirit he’s got. He’s fought for 14-and-a-half years and he’s fought really hard. We’ve always said to him ‘don’t give up’. We’re not giving up.”
Bailey’s consultant would not apply for cannabis based drugs on Baileys behalf. Cardiff and Vlae Health board have stated “we always act in the best interest of patients”
Bailey’s parents have previously given him CBD and said it improved his quality of life.
Peter Carroll, director of End our Pain said a “massive cultural change” was needed in how the medical profession is briefed and trained about medical cannabis. I’ve got families who are told by the local trust that they won’t put an application forward because there’s no policy on it. I’ve got neurologists telling patients who they’ve known for many years that it’s just a passing trend, a passing fad. This is not entering into the spirit of the big bold announcement made by the home secretary and we’re determined, on behalf of these families, to fight on their behalf and get a solution.”
The UK Government said: “We completely sympathise with the families who have been facing desperate situations as they try to find treatment.
“Any proposed course of treatment with cannabis-based medicine must be clinically led.”
The Welsh Government said, subject to the necessary legislation being approved by the UK Parliament, cannabis-derived medicine would be available for clinicians in Wales to prescribe.
“We need to work together and get this sorted because we want our children’s lives back,”
Source – BBC
Image – From the family
