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Article: Samuel joins the battle for a tax-free treatment
- Article from:
- The Independent (London, England)
- Article date:
- November 14, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 1996 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Five-year-old Samuel does not flinch when doctors inject the
plasma-based treatment he needs to fight haemophilia.
It is his father, Kevin Farnill, who worries that Samuel is not
getting the best and safest treatment and that is why they will
both be attending a tribunal in London today that challenges a
decision to impose value- added tax on a purer, artificial clotting
agent.
Doctors agree that recombinant Factor VIII, a genetically
engineered clotting agent, is purer and safer than the
plasma-derived agent and preferable for treating children.
But it costs twice as much as the plasma-based treatment and a
decision by Customs and Excise to impose VAT on the product this
summer made it even ...