A DIABETIC who is reliant on 15 different drugs to survive faced a search for a new doctor after being removed from his GPs patient list.

John Sammon, 54, from Grove Road, Barnehurst, who needs regular dialysis and has had both legs amputated, believes his GP did not want to treat him because the drugs are so expensive.

He only had a weeks supply of the vital drugs left when Kent Health Authority Support Agency told him he no longer had a doctor. He has been a patient of Dr VL Patel at his Barnehurst Road surgery for seven years, although he has only met his GP once.

Mr Sammon was recently prescribed the injection drug Eprex at £50 a go to take twice daily.

He said: The surgery kept saying Eprex is very expensive, cant you get Guys to prescribe it? I kept telling them the hospital wouldnt do it.

Following an argument, Mr Sammon says Dr Patel cancelled the arrangement with Howells chemists shop to have his drugs made up in daily dosage trays. Instead his medication was delivered in brown pill bottles, but his eyesight is so poor he cant read them. An elderly neighbour now sorts out his daily drug intake.

Then, he received the letter saying he no longer had a GP.

Dr Patel denied cost had anything to do with the decision and said Mr Sammon had become abusive after learning he could not get his drugs in dosage trays.

He added: We had lost respect and confidence in each other.

Dr Patel blamed the chemist for withdrawing the trays. But a Howells spokesman said Dr Patel forced the withdrawal by refusing to prescribe the drugs in time for them to put into trays.

As the News Shopper went to press Mr Sammon was allocated a new doctor by the health authority after being refused by three other doctors.