Herceptin.

This is the story of seven women with breast cancer who all desperately want to be prescribed the drug herceptin, which costs thousands of pounds, on the NHS. At the moment herceptin is prescribed for women with advanced breast cancer only but not as a treatment for the early onset of the disease. One of the women is Jo-Anne Leese who was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 26 - she had a very aggressive form of cancer which led to her having a double mastectomy. So far she hasn't been prescribed herceptin to help prevent the return of her cancer and has been paying for it privately which costs £30 000 a year. By the end of the programme, all seven of the women have secured herceptin treatments for themselves, including Jo-Anne, but many health experts feel this is not right. There are reasons to doubt herceptin as the 'wonder drug' these women believe it to be, and the costs to the NHS is enormous, meaning cut-backs in other areas such as mental health and elderly care. Should patient-power and the media be allowed to distort what is in the best interests of the entire NHS?