leafie
  • Articles
  • News
  • Culture
  • CBD Guide
  • Product Reviews
  • CBD FAQs
  • Contact us
  • Complaints
  • Privacy policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Advertising
  • Work With Us
424 Likes
2K Followers
555 Followers
leafie
leafie
  • Articles
  • News
  • Culture
  • CBD Guide
  • Product Reviews
  • CBD FAQs
  • News

Mum fears child could die as Brexit blocks off access to medicinal cannabis

  • Lotte Evans
  • January 7, 2021
  • 2 minute read

The mother of a nine-year-old boy with a rare and severe form of epilepsy fears for her son’s life, as the government announces his supply of a life-changing cannabis medicine from the Netherlands will stop because of Brexit.

Alife Dingley and mother Hannah Deacon have been left feeling terrified as the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) have given them a two-week notice to source an alternative medicine for Alfie’s condition. The DHSC stated that “prescriptions issued in the UK can no longer be lawfully dispensed in an EU member state” and therefore, “dispensing finished cannabis oil (Bedrocan products) in the Netherlands against prescriptions from UK prescribers is no longer an option from 1 January 2021”.

Alfie was diagnosed with a rare epilepsy syndrome caused by a mutation in the gene that codes for the protein protocadherin 19, causing him to lose every skill he had developed and leading to him having 150 seizures a week. In 2017 Deacon campaigned successfully for British doctors to be allowed to prescribe medicinal cannabis, which has seen Alfie become seizure-free for years. 

The letter from the DHSC was sent to Deacon on the 17th of December leaving them just two weeks before the supply of medicine is withdrawn. She told the Guardian, “What makes me really angry is the lack of time we have, the lack of empathy, of care. My son is on a medicine that works for him, why would they take that away?” She now fears that Alfie will go into refractory epileptic seizures again, which terrifies the family as these types of seizures can be fatal.

Neurologist and medical cannabis expert, Professor Mike Barnes has stated he is “appalled” that one in two of these children taking this medication “will die” if the medication is cut, and that the DHSC has dealt with the situation lazily and flippantly.

Deacon expressed in the British Medical Journal she believed that “every child with intractable epilepsy should have the right to try cannabis medicines that could save them from a life of suffering.”



Total
16
Shares
Share 16
Tweet 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Share 0
Lotte Evans
Lotte Evans

Lotte completed her degree in Film and Media Studies at the Manchester School of Art in the summer of 2020, and shortly after started at leafie as a content and social media assistant.

Previous Article
  • Articles

CBD for nerve pain – does it work?

  • Phoebe Ford
  • January 6, 2021
Read Story
Next Article
  • News

Scottish CBD charity enters its fifth year

  • leafie News Desk
  • January 8, 2021
Read Story
You May Also Like
dmt stroke
Read Story
  • News

Stroke patients to be given DMT in revolutionary new study

  • Kevin Dinneen
  • February 9, 2021
keir starmer sophy ridge interview
Read Story
  • News

Sir Keir Starmer rules out relaxing cannabis laws

  • Kevin Dinneen
  • February 22, 2021
Read Story
  • News

Home Office now requires a Schedule One Controlled Drug License for CBD imports

  • Lotte Evans
  • February 2, 2021
Valletta, Malta at Dusk
Read Story
  • News

Malta set to decriminalise cannabis, Prime Minister announces

  • Liam O'Dowd
  • February 18, 2021
nate diaz smoking cannabis in a UFC arena
Read Story
  • News

UFC drops cannabis from its anti-doping policy

  • leafie News Desk
  • January 15, 2021
Read Story
  • News

Call for Scotland to adopt a regulated cannabis market

  • Lotte Evans
  • January 20, 2021
cbd capsules on a blue background
Read Story
  • News

NHS could use cannabis in fight against ‘Super Gonorrhoea’

  • Kevin Dinneen
  • February 25, 2021
cbd oil being tested
Read Story
  • News

UK Government looks to reclassify CBD containing products

  • Liam O'Dowd
  • January 27, 2021
Read Story
  • News

Measuring levels of THC as evidence of a driver’s impairment is not supported by scientific evidence

  • Lotte Evans
  • February 17, 2021
Recent Posts
  • View of cannabis plantations in the northern Morocco 1
    Morocco to legalise the cultivation of medicinal cannabis
    • February 25, 2021
  • cbd capsules on a blue background 2
    NHS could use cannabis in fight against ‘Super Gonorrhoea’
    • February 25, 2021
  • Matt Clifton - Product Earth 3
    Interview: Matt Clifton – Product Earth
    • February 23, 2021
  • keir starmer sophy ridge interview 4
    Sir Keir Starmer rules out relaxing cannabis laws
    • February 22, 2021
  • 5
    What could the Biden/Harris presidency have in store for cannabis in the UK?
    • February 21, 2021
ADVERTISMENT
Popular Articles
  • cannabis being weighed in a shop
    Could Coronavirus lead to legal cannabis in the UK?
    • April 21, 2020
  • indoor legal cannabis farm
    The Great British cannabis con
    • July 9, 2020
  • medical cannabis by post
    UK patients can now get cannabis by post
    • April 29, 2020
ADVERTISMENT

Sign up to our newsletter to get the best CBD and cannabis articles in your inbox once a week


impress logo
leafie is a ≠ publication
© doesnotequal 2021. All rights reserved

Input your search keywords and press Enter.