Dad Of First Child To Be Prescribed Medicinal Cannabis Calls For NHS Roll-Out
4 December 2018, 16:29
The father of the first child to be prescribed medicinal cannabis oil since a change in law has told LBC it should be available on the NHS.
Robin Emmerson said the costly treatment, only available on private prescription, will cost him almost £1,000 a month.
His daughter, two-year-old Jorja, suffers from severe epilepsy, and has around 30 seizures everyday.
Earlier this year it was announced that specialist doctors would be able to legally prescribe cannabis-derived medical products.
It followed a number of high-profile cases involving severely epileptic children, including Billy Caldwell and Alfie Dingley.
Today, Mr Emmerson picked up the prescription today - but he’s admitted it’s not quite as straightforward as he hoped.
“It’s looking at a cost of around £3,000 at the moment every three months, plus flights, hotels because I have to travel back to London every time,” he told Eddie Mair.
“[The prescription] has to go to a government department now, then they have to approve it, then they will speak with the pharmaceutical company in Canada to arrange how to get it across.
“They’re looking at a period of around seven to 14 days.”
He continued: “I would be happy if I got one day seizure-free with Jorja so this is our hope.
“There is nothing else there, there is no other option… hopefully it starts to work.
“My concern is the fight is not over, I have to keep going to get this prescription on the NHS because this is an unsustainable situation I have.”
Watch the interview above.
