Much of the very real damage inflicted on Britain by the decision to leave the European Union in 2016 is couched in cold, abstract terms: loss of GDP, the opportunity cost of investments forgone, billions of pounds in lost tax revenues. Seldom are the personal, human consequences so graphically illustrated as they are in The Independent today as we report how British children with a rare and aggressive brain cancer have been denied a potentially life-extending drug trial.
With the illness virtually impossible to treat let alone cure by present methods, every step should be taken to develop new ones. But the second phase of a clinical trial has been delayed because of Brexit, since the UK now lies outside the EU’s regulatory framework. There are other trials in this field, but as the scientists involved argue, any barrier to vital research in this area is “frustrating”. Indeed, Cancer Research points out that Brexit has slowed the launch of clinical trials and increased the costs for multiple drugs to treat cancers. In the case of approved drugs, Brexit has disrupted supply chains and caused unnecessary shortages of prescription medicines, including for epilepsy and cystic fibrosis.
