Ann Marie Rogers

Who was Ann Marie Rogers?

Ann Marie Rogers was a British campaigner who fought a successful landmark court battle to receive the breast cancer drug Herceptin on the NHS. Herceptin is a treatment for women with breast cancer whose tumors have too much HER2 protein. This type of cancer is known as "HER2-positive", "HER2+", or "HER2 overexpressing". HER2+ tumors tend to grow and spread more quickly than tumors that are not HER2+.

Following her diagnosis with the disease, and chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments, Swindon Primary Care Trust refused to pay for the Herceptin, which might extend her life. Rogers borrowed £5,000 to pay for the drug herself. The drug has been praised by some oncological specialists as "the biggest breakthrough in 20 years". She decided to go further and pursued legal action. She originally lost her High Court case, but carried the fight to the Court of Appeal in April 2006, which overturned the original ruling.

The Irwin Mitchell law firm represented Ms Rogers throughout her legal battle, and praised Rogers after her death, stating that her courage had paved the way for thousands of women throughout the UK to benefit from Herceptin.