Epileptic boy Billy Caldwell given cannabis oil back by Home Office after 'crisis'

Robin de Peyer16 June 2018

A severely epileptic boy who was fighting for life after having his cannabis medicine confiscated by the Home Office has had it returned to him.

Billy Caldwell, 12, was said to be in a "crisis" situation as his seizures intensified following the confiscation on Monday.

He was admitted to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London on Friday, where he has been in a life-threatening condition.

But Home Secretary Sajid Javid said he has used an "exceptional power" to allow Billy 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," he said.

"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."

A family spokesman said the medication was now on the way to the hospital.

Earlier, Billy's mother Charlotte said he had been pushed into a "crisis situation" and suffered more seizures overnight.

Ms Caldwell said she was hoping her son may be given her treatment 
REUTERS

She added: "The Home Office, myself and my team have been working extremely hard throughout the night to make this happen, which is truly amazing, but there can only be one conclusion here: that my beautiful sweet little boy, who has a life-threatening form of epilepsy and one seizure can kill him, he needs his medicine back today."

"There's a lot of bureaucracy around this and we are working towards obviously Billy getting his medicine and it's just one step at a time but we are confident the Home Office is working with us and we are going to get this done."

Ms Caldwell had said the Home Office will be held accountable if Billy dies, calling its actions "beyond cruelty".

Keen to get back to her son's bedside, she said: "I am full of hope - this is my little boy's anti-epilepsy medication.

"I am hoping the common sense will prevail."

On Friday night the Home Office said it was in contact with Billy's medical team and would "carefully consider what options are available" if they advise a particular type of treatment is urgently required.

Doctors said it was too dangerous to treat him with "rescue meds" at home and he can now be treated only with hospital-administered medicine.

Ms Caldwell had a batch of medicinal cannabis oil taken from her at Heathrow Airport on Monday after a flight from Canada.

Ms Caldwell credits the oil with keeping her sick son's seizures at bay, saying he was seizure-free for more than 300 days while on the medication.

She added doctors in Canada and Northern Ireland familiar with Billy's case said the situation was life-threatening.

The child, from Castlederg in Co Tyrone, started the treatment in 2016 in the US, where medical marijuana is legal.

He became the first person in the UK to receive a prescription after his local GP in Northern Ireland, Brendan O'Hare, began writing scripts.

However, there is no record of a health service prescription being dispensed.

Dr O'Hare was summoned to a meeting with Home Office officials recently and told to stop.

Ms Caldwell made the trip to Toronto and back with her sick son to get a six-month supply to treat up to 100 seizures a day, but said border officials seized the oil.

She said her son was too ill to travel to Canada to get his medication.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in