New law hits MS patients

2004-08-26 23:03

Johannesburg - Multiple Sclerosis South Africa (MSSA) is gearing up for a fight with the health department and medical aid schemes over health benefits for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

MS is a nervous disorder in which the protective sheathes around the nerves harden.

This disrupts the ability of the nerves to conduct electrical impulses to and from the brain, producing the various symptoms of MS.

In a statement released on Thursday, MSSA said since new laws regulating chronic medicine came into effect early this year, MS patients had had their medical aid benefits cut.

Under the new legislation three cancer drugs were prescribed to treat MS instead of Interferon Beta.

The cancer treatments Methotrexate, Cyclophosphamide and Azathioprine could have such severe toxic effects on a person that its use was allowed only once in a lifetime.

"We believe that it is a constitutional right for people with MS to receive the treatment of their choice, especially in view of the Interferon Beta treatment being the accepted treatment within international guidelines."

Statistics show that the quality of life of people not receiving Interferon Beta treatment was reduced dramatically.

The organisation added that some medical schemes were adopting the prescribed minimum benefits for the treatment of MS as the maximum prescribed benefit.

"As the organisation representing people with MS, we are of the opinion that the new legislation allows for unfairness and discrimination against people with MS."

MSSA lodged a formal complaint with the Council for Medical Schemes.

- SAPA