A war veteran who cares for his disabled wife has been refused drugs which could stop him from going blind. Dennis Devier, 84, from Henley, is already blind in one eye but needs a course of the treatment Lucentis to stop him losing his sight completely.
Mr Devier, who has a condition called wet age-related macular degeneration, said: "If I go blind, (my wife) will be completely stranded and helpless."
Oxfordshire PCT said it only provided the treatment in "exceptional" cases.
 |  If this situation doesn't change, we will be totally devastated |
The former RAF flight engineer, whose wife Frances is in her 80s and can barely walk, has already spent more than �8,000 of his savings on private treatment.
He said: "What's happening to me is completely outrageous. I'm told I'm not a special case.
"If I go blind, it's going to cost the taxpayer thousands of pounds more to look after me - it's complete madness.
"I don't want to think what will happen to my wife and I if I lose my sight.
'Difficult decisions'
"We are worried sick. If this situation doesn't change, we will be totally devastated."
Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust has ruled that it will only pay for a course of Lucentis - which targets the growth of the protein in the eye that robs sufferers of sight - in "exceptional" cases.
In a statement, the trust said: "We often have to make difficult decisions around prioritising NHS funding for treatments.
"We currently do not routinely provide funding for the drug Lucentis, which has not yet been approved by Nice (National Institute for Clinical Excellence)."
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
