A new drug for people with a particular form of cystic fibrosis that is being provided to NHS patients in England sould also be made available in Scotland, a charity has said.
Patients in England will be able to access Kalydeco (also known as ivacaftor) from Monday and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust said not funding the drug north of the border would cause "widespread dismay and heartache".
Ed Owen, the trust's chief executive, has written to the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) on the day before the NHS in England begins to fund it for all people over the age of six with the G551D cystic fibrosis mutation.
It was decided earlier this month that Kalydeco would be made available to all eligible patients from January 1 in England.
A decision by the SMC over the drug is expected on January 14, the charity said.
In his letter, Mr Owen said: "We trust that the SMC will reflect carefully on the decision in England, and its rationale, before making its decision on funding in Scotland.
"As the organisation representing people with cystic fibrosis across the UK, the Cystic Fibrosis Trust would be dismayed and appalled at a situation where people in Scotland were denied a potentially life-changing treatment freely available to those in England.
"Such an outcome would cause considerable and unacceptable heartache for families across Scotland."
The charity said around 4% of patients across the UK have the G551D mutation, compared to around 11% of the Scottish cystic fibrosis population.
It said this equates to around 80 people in Scotland who would be eligible for Kalydeco.
