Letter: Private remedy for shingles pain

I READ 'Cuts 'curb shingles drug' ' (11 April) by Anne Jacobs and Liz Hunt this morning, after one of the most pain-wracked nights of my 66-year life. I have shingles.

My GP, a skilful and caring physician, said the only treatment was so expensive it had to be reserved for patients who were affected in the face and whose sight was therefore at risk. This confirms your report. Had he been in private practice and had I been a private patient, there would have been no hesitation in prescribing this treatment.

This evidence of the development of a two-tier health service makes a mockery of John Major's election promise that he had no intention of privatising the NHS.

A W Drury

Beetley, Norfolk