A young boy has become the very first patient to receive medical cannabis on the NHS.
Eleven-year-old Billy Caldwell has grown up suffering up to 100 seizures-a-day due to his rare form of epilepsy. After years of constant suffering, Billy's mother Charlotte moved to the USA with her son last year in order to access prescribed cannabis oil.
After receiving the medicine, the Caldwell's returned to the U.K. The CBD oil worked miraculously, halting the majority of Billy's seizures and improving his quality of life significantly. However, early this year, Billy's U.S prescribed medicine began to run out, so Charlotte turned to domestic help - in the form of the NHS.
Unexpectedly, GP Dr. Brendan O'Hare broke protocol and prescribed young Billy with the necessary CBD Oil. This is believed to be the first time in history that a patient has been prescribed the drug on the NHS (with the exception of Sativex in Wales).
Speaking to the press Charlotte Caldwell stated;
"In the end I called my GP and gave him all our paperwork and he said he’d prescribe the medicinal cannabis for Billy, and that’s exactly what he has done. We went down to our surgery and picked it up. It was as simple as that."Dr. O'Hare was praised for his decision but issued a warning that this does not indicate a wholesale change in cannabis policy for the NHS;
"Whatever the rights and wrongs, we had a child who had benefited and the child’s welfare was paramount. On that basis I issued a prescription. (However) this was not to open the floodgates for others, it is a one-off."
