“It’s done, and we can move forward now.”
Vera Twomey has announced that the cost of her daughter, Ava’s medicinal cannabis will be finally reimbursed.
After a prolonged campaign to ensure that Ava could receive the necessary medicinal cannabis treatment for her Dravet Syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy, the Cork mother took to Facebook to say that the Department of Health and HSE had contacted her to confirm that they would cover the expenses for both medicinal CBD and THC.
This comes after she told JOE that the government were not honouring their commitment to cover the costs of Ava’s mediation under the Long Term Illness Scheme, despite the fact that children with epilepsy qualify for the scheme and Ava’s previous non-cannabis medication was covered by the HSE, despite its ineffectiveness.
Vera was given approval to use the treatment back in December, but this still meant that she would have to travel with Ava to the Netherlands and pay medical bills of approximately €5,000 every three months.
“Look, we’re still going to have to go over to Holland to bring the medication back,” she said in the livestream.
“But it’s going to be reimbursed. That’s sorted. It was sorted verbally first and it’s all down in writing. We have it.”
“It’s done, and we can move forward now,” she later said. “The medication is being reimbursed, and Ava’s medication is being respected the same way that any other anti-epileptic medication is respected and covered.”
“Any of the people out there that need medical cannabis for their epilepsy, for the pain, for any other conditions, you can do it too, and you can get it too, and it can be done.”
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