Conservatives call for end to Lucentis lottery

Primary care trusts are condemning up to 16,000 people a year to blindness because of their refusal to fund potentially sight-saving drugs such as Lucentis, the Conservatives have said.

John Baron, who speaks for the party on ophthalmology, added his voice to the growing criticism over the availability of Lucentis and Macugen. Speaking in the House of Commons last week, Baron slammed Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt for failing to offer concrete assurances that people who needed the drugs would get access to them.

'It is totally unacceptable that 16,000 people a year in England are being condemned to blindness because PCTs are refusing to fund treatments which would save sight,' he commented.