Hi everyone,

Hope someone can help me, I went for my atos medical assessment dec. 2011, and was told that because I am having Rituximab treatment that I do not need an assessment and was sent home. I was put in the support group and now 12 mths later have filled my form in and have been asked again to attend assessment, I am still on rituximab and they say it doesn't matter, I need to attend.

Does anyone know if this is correct, I don't want to get there and have to come all way home again for nothing

Many thanks
Joe

I can't really help you much here, do not know the in's and out's of the rules, but just want to add something that RichC already mentioned.

Several months ago there were two programmes on TV about ATOS and in one of them the person who briefed the people who were going to do the assessment said that if people took chemo by injection rather than tablet form they automatically passed the assessment. I thought at the time that we inject it to try to stop the sickness that we get from taking it orally, so I would of thought that out of the two the tablet form of taking it would make someone less able to work than taking it via injection. I didn't at the time think that this would apply to someone with RA it was only for those with cancer. Perhaps someone should look into this and see if it does.

Paula

Hi Joe

The Regulations are specific and do not mention what the chemotherapy is for .

35.—(1) A claimant is to be treated as having limited capability for work-related activity if—

(a) the claimant is terminally ill;

(b) the claimant is—
(i) receiving treatment by way of intravenous, intraperitoneal or intrathecal chemotherapy; or
(ii)recovering from that treatment and the Secretary of State is satisfied that the claimant should be treated as having limited capability for work-related activity; or
(c)in the case of a woman, she is pregnant and there is a serious risk of damage to her health or to the health of her unborn child if she does not refrain from work-related activity.

This is legislation and does not contain what the chemotherapy is for , or go onto define what chemotherapy dugs are involved .

I have looked on rightsnet forum , an adviser resource and this issue is raised there in July 2011.

In your case it would be down to whether Rituximab is a chemotherapy drug.

Looking at Cancer research it states that Rituximab is a biologic treatment NOT a Chemotherapy one, but is used with chemotherapy drugs.

It may be the case that they got it wrong last year .

Still get face to face advise on this though , and possibly look into DLA as in the publication on this site.


Rich