A FORMER nurse has branded a possible decision to withhold a wonder drug from new multiple sclerosis sufferers as "immoral".

Pauline Taylor, 48, from Durham City, who suffers from MS, was reacting to speculation that beta interferon may be withdrawn on the NHS.

Sufferers say the drug can help them cope with pain and other distressing symptoms of the illness. But its cost of £10,000-a-year per patient has put huge pressure on NHS budgets across the country.

Mrs Taylor, who is considering legal action against health chiefs after she and her partner, Tony Marks, were refused access to the drug for "clinical reasons", said: "I think this would be absolutely immoral. I would like to know what the ethical stance is regarding such a decision.

"It should be my basic human right to this drug and anyone else being denied it."

A report on the BBC's Nine O'Clock News has claimed that the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) - the body which advises the NHS on drug use - has concluded interferon has only marginal benefits for MS sufferers.

It suggested that the money spent on the drug would be better used on other treatments such as physiotherapy and rehabilitation services.

The report added that those who receive interferon would continue to receive it, but up to 8,000 more who might be eligible would have to pay for it themselves.

Mrs Taylor, who made headlines after turning to cannabis to ease her pain, said she is taking legal advice as to whether patients being denied the drug are having their human rights infringed.

She said: "This is still in its infancy and I am gathering all the necessary information.

"Somebody has to stand up and be counted on behalf of everybody that is having the struggle that me and my partner are having."

A spokeswoman for NICE said the organisation was still consulting patient groups over the future of interferon.

A decision would not be made on the drugs' availability until August