Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Lewis Harte and his mother Ann Marie. MDI

Two boys fighting for access to drug that could help them keep walking

Translarna, the only treatment for boys with a specific type of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, costs €400,000 per patient per year.

THE MEDICAL RESEARCH Charities Group (MRCG) has called on the HSE to reconsider its decision to not fund Translarna, a treatment for boys with a specific type of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).

The HSE’s Drug Committee is meeting on Thursday, 18 May, and the MRCG wants the issue to be discussed there.

Muscular Dystrophy Ireland (MDI) said it’s only aware of five boys in Ireland with nonsense mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy (nmDMD). Two of these boys are over five years of age and therefore eligible for Translarna, which is also known as ataluren.

The remaining three boys may become eligible for the drug if they are still walking at the age of five. Most boys with the condition start to lose muscle power at the age of six, with the majority unable to walk by age 12.

DMD is the most common form of muscular dystrophy and it’s estimated there are around 100 boys and men living with it in Ireland. The condition affects approximately one in every 3,500 male births.

It arises due to the absence of dystrophin, a protein found on the X chromosome, which is vital in holding muscles together. The condition results in a progressive loss of muscle strength and leads to other serious health issues, such as heart and lung problems.

As boys have only one X chromosome, they are more susceptible to dystrophin damage, unlike girls who have a second X chromosome to make up for the damaged gene.

Not cost-effective 

In 2016, the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE), which conducts the health technology assessment of pharmaceutical products for the Health Service Executive (HSE), did not to give the green light to Translarna.

It was not deemed cost-effective. The price would be over €400,000 per child per year.

Philip Watt, chair of the MRCG, told TheJournal.ie: “As well as looking after the many – people with diseases like cancer and heart conditions that are common – we also have to look after the few … It’s heartbreaking how [nmDMD] affects young boys.”

Watt said boys in other countries have responded well to the treatment, noting: “They’re still walking long after they were predicted to be in wheelchairs.”

Watt said people with more common conditions often have more options for the type of treatment they can access, but this isn’t the case with many rare diseases such as DMD.

He said pharmaceutical companies “don’t want to touch” rare or so-called ‘orphan diseases’ as “they know governments don’t want to pay the high prices, there are massive costs involved but a very small patient base”.

He added that some of the money spent on drugs used to treat rare diseases goes into vital research in the area, with a view to finding other treatment options.

If it was your son or daughter, you’d be out there calling for access to it, there but for the grace of God…

“People think ‘Oh it’s something that’s going to affect someone else’, but it could affect you or a member of your family further down the line,” Watt said.

Ann Marie Walsh-Harte from Castlebar in Co Mayo, whose son Lewis has the condition, previously told us the wait for access to Translarna was “agonising“.

The only medication available 

Richard Lodge, CEO of MDI, told TheJournal.ie the organisation acknowledges Translarna is an expensive treatment, but added: “It remains the only medication available for these children and has already been made available to patients in most European countries.

For a small number of people, Translarna offers the only current option for slowing the progression of this debilitating and life-limiting condition. This will keep these children active and walking for longer and thereby give them the same life opportunities as their European counterparts.

“Not only will this enable them to participate for significantly longer as an active member of society, it also delays the requirement for other medical interventions and extremely expensive transport and social care supports.

“It is difficult to put a price on the immense value this represents to the young people and families whose quality of life and life expectancy itself is significantly impacted by this condition.”

The treatment is available in over 20 countries in Europe, including the UK.

A statement from the HSE said the body has accepted the recommendation of non-reimbursement for Translarna.

However, they added that the HSE is “legally required to set out in detail a notice of any proposed decision to an applicant company and provide at least a 28-day period (from the formal written notice of proposal) to enable the pharmaceutical company to consider any such proposal not to reimburse and to make representations to the HSE if it wishes to do so”.

The statement continued: “The HSE is also required to consider any such representations.

“The notice period for the applicant company representations has recently ended and the HSE is now considering the representations received from the company.

“The HSE has also met with the company to fully understand its representations. Under the 2013 Health Act, a final decision can only be made after the representations received have been carefully considered by the HSE.”

Read: ‘A treatment that can help my son is being denied, it’s agonising’

Read: ‘When I was born there was no hint of any disease

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
12 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Joan Featherstone
    Favourite Joan Featherstone
    Report
    Feb 13th 2014, 8:58 AM

    What a super gesture and that hotel is in a beautiful spot. Well done!

    623
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Robbie Doyle
    Favourite Robbie Doyle
    Report
    Feb 13th 2014, 9:03 AM

    This is the type of spirit we should be working towards and aspiring to as a country rather than promoting peoples apparent selfishness.

    389
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Neal •IntoYourHead
    Favourite Neal •IntoYourHead
    Report
    Feb 25th 2014, 11:09 AM

    Okay, relax there and stop judging us all.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Alison Irving
    Favourite Alison Irving
    Report
    Feb 13th 2014, 10:46 AM

    Yesterday evening getting on the bus I realised there was no money on my Leap card & I didnt have enough change for the fare – bus driver let me off with the extra because he “couldn’t leave you out there in that weather”. Thanks Dublin Bus!!

    375
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ryan Freeman
    Favourite Ryan Freeman
    Report
    Feb 13th 2014, 9:21 AM

    Session!

    132
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Darren Callaghan
    Favourite Darren Callaghan
    Report
    Feb 13th 2014, 10:00 AM

    Power Cut, lock in at the Glendalough Hotel during a storm, damn it why didn’t I buy house in Laragh

    110
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sean Scanlon
    Favourite Sean Scanlon
    Report
    Feb 13th 2014, 1:57 PM

    I did

    15
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Daisy Chainsaw
    Favourite Daisy Chainsaw
    Report
    Feb 13th 2014, 11:03 AM

    Whitford House Hotel in Wexford posted something similar. I don’t know if they provided any freebies, but there are worse places to while away a bad evening!

    (*not related or affiliated. I just like the place.)

    100
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute aisling doyle
    Favourite aisling doyle
    Report
    Feb 13th 2014, 11:55 AM

    Love it too :) always a great place to go — great to see people been nice

    39
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Shanti
    Favourite Shanti
    Report
    Feb 13th 2014, 11:26 AM

    I saw a lot of these types of gestures on Facebook last night – including this one..
    Nice to see that sense of community is still with us.. Unlike the garden furniture and a few sheds..

    76
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Deborah Carroll
    Favourite Deborah Carroll
    Report
    Feb 13th 2014, 4:43 PM

    Lovely to see them helping out, unlike a certain shop in Newcastle West charging 80 euro for a camping stove this morning…

    40
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Neal •IntoYourHead
    Favourite Neal •IntoYourHead
    Report
    Feb 25th 2014, 11:11 AM

    That seems quite reasonable for a camping stove.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Barry Aston
    Favourite Barry Aston
    Report
    Feb 13th 2014, 3:17 PM

    Great hotel in all truth. Used to lack a bit years ago but is now top notch. Spent 4 days there last week. They are sound staff and the chef is fairly handy too.

    38
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jacinta O'Shaughnessy Foley
    Favourite Jacinta O'Shaughnessy Foley
    Report
    Feb 13th 2014, 10:32 AM

    Brilliant marketing stategy!

    37
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mary Blake
    Favourite Mary Blake
    Report
    Feb 13th 2014, 5:37 PM

    Fantastic well done we all need a little help sometimes

    23
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute AICS (Steve Tracey)
    Favourite AICS (Steve Tracey)
    Report
    Feb 13th 2014, 7:29 PM

    Possibly was a marketing, PR strategy. Does that make it any less pf a good thing? I supposevsome people will always find a way of belittling helpful actions.

    19
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute David Giles
    Favourite David Giles
    Report
    Feb 14th 2014, 6:02 AM

    Virtue brings its own reward.

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gerard Creedon
    Favourite Gerard Creedon
    Report
    Feb 13th 2014, 12:28 PM

    Great thinkin can’t lose wit dat PR !!

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gobblor
    Favourite Gobblor
    Report
    Feb 13th 2014, 3:48 PM

    wit dat?

    Red thumb for being a moron.

    23
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds