A DYING cancer patient who is taking legal action to obtain a life-extending new drug has been given new hope after NHS officials agreed to look at her case again.

As proceedings in the High Court in London were adjourned on Thursday of last week, North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust agreed to reconsider an application from Anne MacFarlane's consultant haematologist to fund the £20,000 drug, Revlimid.

Mr Justice Cranston said the case would return to court for a full hearing within weeks, so important was the issue to Mrs McFarlane's chances of survival.

Her solicitor, Lisa Wild, from the Irwin Mitchell law firm, criticised the PCT for forcing Mrs MacFarlane, 65, to go through a six-month process of appeals and legal action to get the drug she needs to stay alive.

For the last six months Mrs MacFarlane, of Bedale, who has multiple myeloma, has been asking her local NHS primary care trust to pay for treatment.

But despite backing from three consultant haematologists and world-famous cancer expert Dr Karol Sikora - who all believe the drug could significantly extend Mrs MacFarlane's life - the PCT has refused to give way.

Three other multiple myeloma patients in North Yorkshire have been treated with Revlimid, also known as Lenalidomide, but the PCT has blocked applications for funding by Mrs MacFarlane's consultant at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.

The trust has indicated that it does not believe the drug is cost effective enough to give to Mrs MacFarlane and that her case is not "exceptional enough" for it to break its own guidelines.

Following an unsuccessful appeal to the PCT in February, Mrs MacFarlane asked Irwin Mitchell to take up her case.

Mrs Wild had argued that the PCT's appeal decision was flawed and was about to begin judicial review proceedings against the trust.

After the case was adjourned, it emerged that the PCT had agreed to re-convene its high-value drug committee to re-examine Mrs MacFarlane's application.

Mrs Wild said: "Specialists have said this drug could extend her life by as much as a year and could vastly improve her quality of life in that time.

"Based on the evidence available to us, it seems clear that Anne's is an exceptional case for funding for this drug. Mrs MacFarlane is only asking for funding for an initial period of four months to establish her response to the drug.

"One of the saddest things is the time this has taken - Mrs MacFarlane is dying and should not have been forced to go through a six-month process of appeals and court cases."

Husband Andy MacFarlane said: "I am not a lawyer but I don't think the PCT has a leg to stand on. Any reasonable, fair person would allow my wife to get the treatment she needs."

The couple used to run the former King's Arms pub in Bishop Auckland until they retired in 1987. They have an adult son who lives in America.

A spokesperson for the trust said: "The PCT will be reconsidering the case in light of additional clinical information and the court proceedings have been adjourned until later this month. This is a separate process from the court proceedings."