Mother's fight to save son's life

12.00.00am GMT Thu 13th Mar 2008

A mother whose toddler son uses Viagra to stay alive says a review into the cost of providing stronger drugs for his condition may put his life at risk. Oliver Sherwood, two, currently takes Viagra four times a day to treat pulmonary hypertension (PH) which can kill sufferers within two years.

The National Institute of Clinical Excellence review will look at the cost of different drugs to treat adult PH.

Sarah Sherwood said if these drugs are taken away, her son's outlook is bleak. "The outlook for PH patients is not good, two to three years maximum, and we're not sure whether he could go to pre-school because a chest infection could kill him," said Ms Sherwood, 34. The only hope we had was that he would be maintained through medication but if anything happens in the future that hope may be taken away."

As Oliver grows up he will need to move on to stronger drugs - such as Epoprostenol and Iloprost - to tackle the illness. If the review finds the cost of those drugs is too expensive, patients will only be offered the cheaper drug Sildenafil or Viagra.