“Huge relief” as threat to children’s medical cannabis is resolved

Families have welcomed the news that the Dutch government will continue to supply life-saving cannabis products for UK patients for the next six months. 

The Dutch government has confirmed it will continue to supply Bedrocan oil for UK prescriptions until 1 July 2021.

In a letter the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it was ‘committed’ to using the coming months to find a ‘permanent solution’.

Dozens of patients, including children with severe epilepsy, who are prescribed the oils in the UK but can only obtain their prescription through the Transvaal pharmacy in the Netherlands, were left without access to the medication after the UK left the EU. 

Families were given just two weeks’ notice that prescriptions issued in the UK ‘can no longer be lawfully dispensed in an EU Member State’ following the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020. 

Hannah Deacon, whose son Alfie, six, is prescribed Bedrolite on the NHS, has been calling on the UK government for weeks to find a solution.

“It’s a huge relief for our family and all those affected that this short-term agreement has been reached,” she said.

“Now our attention needs to turn to finding a long-term solution and resolving the ongoing issues facing families in the UK, who are faced with the daily struggle of attempting to find the money to privately fund private prescriptions for their child’s epilepsy. 

“I am very fortunate to have an NHS prescription for Alfie, but I will continue to fight alongside these families until we have access for all patients.”

Campaign group End Our Pain, which represents 40 families of children and young people who rely on medical cannabis, also welcomed the news.

“We welcome the news that the imminent threat to the ongoing supply of Bedrocan products from Holland, which are vital for the health and wellbeing of many families with children affected by intractable epilepsy, has been resolved in the short term,” it said in a statement on social media.

“We understand that the Dutch Government has been understanding and accommodating and thank them for that. We also thank UK Health Minister Jo Churchill for her role together with the officials involved both in the DHSC, Number 10 and the Home Office.”

However, the group highlighted the need for an urgent solution to the barriers in accessing cannabis medicines in the UK.

With only a handful of prescriptions issued on the NHS, parents are still faced with raising thousands to fund them privately each month.

“We make another urgent and insistent plea to all those involved in the UK Government to solve the remaining crisis, funding both for Bedrocan products and other whole plant extract medical cannabis that our families rely on,” it continued.

“Families have found whole plant extract medical cannabis is life-transforming and indeed lifesaving for their children, but they are still having to raise up to £2,000 a month to pay for a medicine that is legal here. These families are at financial and emotional breaking point.”

End Our Pain is calling for an emergency fund to be set up to help families pay for these prescriptions until they are able to access them on the NHS.

“Our view is that the blocks to prescribing on the NHS need to be removed, but this will take time and our families haven’t got time. They are running out of money and their fundraising options have been all but totally shut down since Covid struck,” it added.

“For that reason, we are continuing to call for the establishment of an emergency fund which can be used to help the families pay for the private prescriptions until the NHS starts prescribing.

“This is the only way that the families can be helped immediately.”