Widow calls for frozen tissue law change after husband’s brain tumour death
Widow campaigns for major change to brain tumour care
- Ellie James is campaigning for a new law, dubbed 'Owain's Law', after her husband, Owain, died in 2024 from a glioblastoma.
- The proposed law seeks to grant patients the legal right to have their tumour tissue frozen and stored after surgery, enabling personalised treatments and genetic tests.
- Owain's access to a crucial personalised vaccine treatment was severely limited because most of his tumour tissue was not frozen, rendering it unusable.
- Mrs James believes her husband would still be alive if such a law had been in place, highlighting an inconsistent 'postcode lottery' in NHS brain cancer care.
- The issue of patient consent and tissue storage is scheduled for discussion in a Westminster Hall debate.