A SERIOUSLY-ILL mother living in Tony Blair's constituency has written to the Prime Minister asking why she is being denied a life-saving drug pioneered in the North-East - but so far only available to British patients in Scotland.

Ann Tittley, 55, from Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, says she has turned to Mr Blair in desperation after being told she cannot have Glivec, a new drug which appears to "cure" seven out of ten chronic myeloid leukaemia (cml) sufferers.

Last night, she said: "It just seems ridiculous that this new drug is there waiting to be used, but I can't have it."

The drug - which costs up to £18,000 a year per patient - is licensed as safe to use in the UK and is already being given to patients in Scotland, as well as Europe and America.

But English hospitals are waiting for a ruling from the National Institute of Clinical Guidance (Nice), a committee of independent experts set up to decide whether new drugs should be prescribed throughout the NHS.

Existing Glivec patients - who took part in early trials - can stay on the life-saving drug but new sufferers have been told they have to wait.

Mrs Tittley, who has a teenage son and works with disabled people, fears that the Nice decision may come too late for her. Four years ago she battled breast cancer.

In her letter to Mr Blair, she writes: "Glivec was my lifeline, at least it would give me a chance of beating this disease."

The Scottish equivalent of Nice has ruled that patients north of the border can receive the treatment, which was pioneered by the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle.

Mrs Tittley asks the Prime Minister: "Do I have to uproot my family and move to Scotland to stand a chance of life?"

She is also angry that the high cost of Glivec may play a part in rationing.

Her letter continues: "£18,000 per patient per year is being bantered about but the true cost is nearer £10,000 if you subtract the cost of the alternative treatment. With the amount of money supposedly being put into the health service, surely life-saving drugs should be a priority."

Mrs Tittley's frustration is shared by North-East leukaemia specialists who want to be given the freedom to prescribe the drug.

Dr Stephen O'Brien, a consultant haematologist who ran the UK's first Glivec trial at the Royal Victoria Infirmary three years ago, said he is no longer able to prescribe the drug to new patients

Currently the drug is only licensed in the UK for use after other conventional treatment has failed.

But the results of international trials show that, if patients are given Glivec at an early stage, they have a much better chance of staying healthy.

A few weeks ago, Dr O'Brien attended a major conference in Florida which heard that Glivec can eradicate chronic myeloid leukaemia in 69 per cent of cases, compared with the 11 per cent success rate of standard chemotherapy.

"We are all being berated for not doing very well for cancer treatment and then we have one of the best drugs in the world that was ever invented and nobody will let us use it. It's just bonkers," said Dr O'Brien.

"It is crucial to move quickly. This policy is costing lives at the moment."

His colleague, Dr Anne Lennard, who has been treating Mrs Tittley, said: "If I had complete freedom, I would prescribe the drug for this lady but the drug is on hold."

Both consultants have signed a submission from the British Society of Haematologists urging Nice to make a quick decision on Glivec.

The disease affects about 4,000 Britons, with 800 new cases a year. Conventional treatment, using chemotherapy and radiotherapy, can slow the illness but sufferers usually need a bone marrow transplant.

Glivec targets leukaemia cells, leaving surrounding cells unharmed. There are virtually no side-effects.

A spokeswoman for Nice said that the committee was still gathering information. "So far as restrictions being put on treatment while Nice is looking at it, you should talk to the Department of Health," she added.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "Until there is a decision by Nice there is not a lot we can do. This is the best system we have for sorting out postcode prescribing problems."

A spokesman for Mr Blair's constituency office said they were awaiting more information from the Department of Health.