Multiple sclerosis sufferers to be given access to ‘miracle’ drug

It is dubbed the “miracle drug’’ for those suffering from multiple sclerosis. And from January 1, sufferers like young mother Julie Kennedy will have access to Mavenclad through the PBS, saving them $54,000 a year.

Julie Kennedy had just had her hair coloured when she was struck by extreme dizziness.

Barely able to walk out of the salon, the then 23-year-old thought it must have been a reaction to the bleach they had used in her hair.

“I honestly thought I was going to pass out,” she said.

The dizziness worsened over the next four days, with Ms Kennedy heading to hospital for answers.

“They told me I had a virus and stay hydrated,” she said.

It was the first of many misdiagnoses — she was also told she had “gastro” — with the single mum of a six-month-old daughter returning to hospital another three times before she was diagnosed with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis.

The final diagnosis only came after her mother insisted her daughter — who could barely keep her head upright as she sat in a wheelchair in the hospital waiting room — undergo a brain scan.

Julie Kennedy with children Piper-Rose, seven, and one-year-old Cash. Ms Kennedy was diagnosed with MS when she was 23. Picture: Supplied

Seven years later, Ms Kennedy, 30, has the disease under control with a new drug — Mavenclad — taking away her symptoms.

She was given access to the drug as part of a trial after alternate multiple sclerosis treatments continued to leave her feeling dizzy, especially in crowded shopping centres, or affected her vision.

Described as a “miracle” drug, the Federal government will today announce Mavenclad will be added to the Medicare benefits list from January 1 — a move that will save around 6200 patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis $54,000 year.

Relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis is where a patient has an attack before going in to a period of remission.

The disease is characterised by lymphocytes in a person’s immune system mistakenly attack the protective myelin around the nerve cells, causing inflammation and scarring and leading to a variety of symptoms.

Mavenclad selectively destroys the white blood cells — or B or T lymphocytes — believed to be responsible for the damage caused by MS, allowing the body to generates new cells that do not have the tendency to cause MS.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Picture Kym Smith

Ms Kennedy, who had a relapse prior taking Mavenclad, said the disease had changed her life.

“It was a big shock to me — I think it actually took me about four years to really

understand that I had a serious disease,” she said.

“When I had my second child, a boy, in January 2017, I lost all the feeling down the left side of my body for three months.

“On the old drug, I would still feel really dizzy, like being a shopping centre with shiny floors, or if there are lots of people. Since taking the new drug in June, I find I’m not longer dizzy and I also no longer lose my vision when I go outside without sunglasses. It is a miracle drug.”

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Mavenclad was among $1.4 billion worth of new medicines the federal government has listed since the updated December Budget, with patients to pay $40.30 per script — $6.50 for concessional patients — instead of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“I’ve seen first-hand the impact MS can have which is why being able to list a medicine like Mavenclad is so important,” he said.

Other drugs listed include those to treat spine joint inflammation, elevated cholesterol, cystic fibrosis and lung cancer.