Louis Petit was 12 when he was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy. At the time, medical cannabis was illegal in the UK, so he moved with his family to the Netherlands, where doctors helped him use Bedrolite, a cannabis oil, alongside anti-epileptic medication. The treatment eventually stopped his seizures.
When Petit secured a place at City and Guilds of London Art School in 2022, he expected the legalisation of medical cannabis in the UK to make returning home easier. However, he has never obtained the medicine through the NHS. Like most patients who depend on cannabis-based treatment, he has had to use private providers instead.
That access is now under threat after Bedrocan, the Dutch company that produces Bedrolite, declared bankruptcy. The medicine was designed for children with drug-resistant epilepsy and cannot simply be replaced by general cannabis products. A UK manufacturer, Target Healthcare, has told families it will secure a six-month stockpile, but the longer-term supply remains uncertain.
The shortage has highlighted the gap between the expansion of Britain’s private cannabis industry and the limited availability of NHS treatment. Since legalisation in 2018, fewer than five prescriptions for unlicensed cannabis-based products such as Bedrolite had been issued across the NHS by 2025. Private treatment can cost patients up to £4,000 a month.
Private companies have expanded their customer base through online consultations, rapid delivery and products such as vape pens and gummies. However, the article argues that the commercial market is more focused on cannabis as a wellness product for anxiety, sleep problems or chronic pain than on rare and complex conditions such as epilepsy or multiple sclerosis.
The lack of investment in large clinical trials has also made it harder for cannabis medicines to gain licences and become routinely available through the NHS. Families and campaigners say patients should not be left dependent on a private market that may be unable to guarantee supplies.
Petit’s mother, Emma, said an NHS funding request made by his neurologists could have secured his treatment. She added that there is enough Bedrolite stock in the Netherlands to last into 2028, but it is not available to patients without NHS prescriptions.
The article calls on the UK government to negotiate with Bedrolite’s manufacturer to protect supplies and to establish investment and regulatory arrangements that would allow suitable medical cannabis treatments to become accepted NHS prescriptions.
Sources: The Guardian Science.