Inhaled Insulin should NOT be rejected

James Plaskitt MP
First Floor
2A Leam Terrace
Leamington Spa
CV31 1BB

Dear James,

I am very concerned about what is going on in the NHS. This institution is the single biggest advancement in the history of this country and an achievement that the Labour Party is duly proud to call its own. However, the recent bad headlines about funding and on a personal level, the decision of NICE to advice against the purchase of inhaled insulin, is depressing news. As a diabetic I am very saddened by the decision, a decision that further reinforces the view that somewhere and somehow there are moves afoot to place the NHS in such a bad light, that the unthinkable could be considered – the break-up of our free health care system.

The foundations have been set. Trust hospitals, PFIs, hospitals cutting services, making front line staff redundant along with the constant bad publicity. We must fight to save it against the ferocious attacks of those who would have us return to the awful days before the NHS existed.

As a diabetic, I am provided with free medication, testing equipment and regular check-ups. These are vital to my health, because without them I would die. One small example, I have to get my feet checked on a yearly basis, because if problems develop I do not heal well and amputations are more likely. Indeed, 70% of diabetics die within five years of having a limb amputated. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but there are people living with conditions far worse than mine, so I cannot moan. I am not yet at the stage of needing five insulin injections a day, but this will come in time. Inhaled Insulin is a revolutionary step forward and surely must not be available solely to the wealthy in our society.

As an MP, I would like to ask you to do the following:

1. Help influence government ministers in the Department of Health to over-turn the ruling to reject inhaled insulin, due to be finalised in October.

2. Continue your hard work in retaining the NHS and reducing the decisions made on cost grounds, unless there is clear clinical evidence that new drugs and treatments provide little benefit to the patient.

3. Campaign hard to reject the absurd claims of the media and those who would privatise the NHS.

I cannot emphasis enough, that without the NHS I would have to pay extortionate insurance premiums – that is if I could get insurance. I would be at the mercy of those who see profit before people. This must never happen again in our country.

Yours sincerely,


Paul Bell