Campaign to force NHS to help AMD sufferers

A legal campaign has been launched to eradicate regional inequalities in the NHS that deny treatment to thousands who are facing blindness. The challenge is being spearheaded by a former Labour MP, Alice Mahon, who suffers from age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

The new treatment (2 drugs called Lucentis and Macugen) have been shown in some trials to improve the vision in a third of patients and halt the deterioration in majority of other cases. The drugs can only be used in cases of the rarer Wet AMD. There are still no known treatments for the far more common Dry AMD.

Mrs Mahon will be joined by other MPs in Parliament today to speak out against the refusal to fund treatment for patients suffering from wet AMD. A private member's Bill tabled to have its second reading next month. For more information on both types of AMD, click here