A 65-year-old Stratford-upon-Avon woman "at serious risk of going blind" has launched a High Court test case battle over an NHS trust's decision to refuse treatment that could save her sight.
Patricia Meadows suffers from wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in her left eye, and "dry" intermediate AMD in her right eye.
There is no treatment for the dry condition. However, there is hope that a course of injections of ranibizumab - trade name Lucentis - will save the sight of her left eye.
Warwickshire NHS Primary Care Trust (PCT) decided in May this year not to fund treatment, despite medical advice that Miss Meadows would benefit from it and the drug was available in other areas.
The court heard from her lawyers that objective medical evidence showed that a course of the drug had a 90-95% chance of arresting eyesight deterioration. There was also a 70% chance of it improving vision and 33-40% chance of "clinically significant" improvement.
But without treatment soon, Miss Meadows and other patients in her area faced losing their sight within a matter of months.
The PCT has a policy of not routinely funding treatment with Lucentis, although exceptions can be made.
Miss Meadows's consultant ophthalmic surgeon was told in the May 30 decision letter that "exceptional circumstances" had not been demonstrated in his patient's case to justify departing from its current policy.
Her lawyers have now begun a legal battle to overturn that decision in a test case that could affect many other NHS patients around the country.
Backed by the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), her counsel Ian Wise asked Mr Justice Underhill at the High Court in London for permission to seek judicial review.
