When Auckland man Brendan Rochford stopped being able to walk 500m unaided, he lost his access to the life-enhancing MS drug Tysabri.
The 41-year-old business analyst started on the drug when it was introduced in New Zealand three years ago and said since being on the medication the relapses that damaged his nervous system and caused a new disability have stopped.
"I was developing new lesions which are the marks on the brain that you can see in the MRI scan on a fairly regular basis and ever since I started Tysabri that has stopped."
Rochford was diagnosed with MS in 2011, but it was not until he developed a second disability within the same year and had trouble walking that he was able to get access to drug.
But it is that same walking disability that is now preventing him for getting funding as he can no longer meet Pharmac's criteria of walking 500m unaided.