Epileptic boy has supply returned after home office u-turn

Epileptic boy has supply returned after home office u-turn


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Charlotte Caldwell said they had "achieved the impossible" after Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced on Saturday he would grant a licence for 12-year-old Billy to get the


treatment. The Government, however, only relented after a six-day battle ensued when officials seized a six-month supply of cannabis oil she brought into Heathrow Airport from Toronto,


Canada. She criticised the "dreadful, horrific, cruel experience" that has deeply affected 12-year-old Billy, saying: "His little body has been completely broken and his


little mind." "I truly believe that somewhere in the Home Office there's someone with a heart and I truly believe that Billy was pulling on their heart strings," she


added. She criticised outdated laws and called for "more humane policies", while vowing to fight for others in the UK to have access to the medication they need. "No other


family should have to go through this sort of ordeal, travelling half way round the world to get medication which should be freely available," she said. In a statement, Home Secretary


Sajid Javid said: "This morning, I've used an exceptional power as home secretary to urgently issue a licence to allow Billy Caldwell to be treated with cannabis oil. "This is


a very complex situation, but our immediate priority is making sure Billy receives the most effective treatment possible in a safe way. "We have been in close contact with Billy's


medical team overnight and my decision is based on the advice of senior clinicians who have made clear this is a medical emergency. "The policing minister met with the family on Monday


and since then has been working to reach an urgent solution." The Caldwells’ MP, Órfhlaith Begley of Sinn Féin, welcomed Javid’s decision. “Billy should never have been put in that


position. The treatment was clearly working for him and he deteriorated badly once it ended, yet it still took intense lobbying to get the Home Office to reverse this cruel decision,” she


said. Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb tweeted: “Come on @theresa_may, a little boy’s life is at risk. No need for Home Office to ‘carefully consider’ allowing Billy Caldwell to have his cannabis oil.


Just let him have it NOW and then legalise medicinal cannabis as first step toward rational drug policy.”  A family spokesman said on Saturday: “The medication that she brought into the


country and was confiscated, this medication is on the way to the hospital.”