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Benefits for terminally ill patients: five minutes with . . . Nikhil Sharma

BMJ 2019; 364 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l630 (Published 07 February 2019) Cite this as: BMJ 2019;364:l630
  1. Susan Mayor
  1. London

The consultant neurologist explains why it’s time to scrap the six month lifespan rule on terminally ill patients claiming benefits

“The fast track ‘special rules’ process for people with a terminal diagnosis such as motor neurone disease (MND) requires that they are expected to die within six months.

“It’s vital that this six month limit is scrapped, as it has a profound impact on virtually all aspects of care for people with MND.

“I’ve had examples of people with MND where the benefits agencies challenged applications made under the special …

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