A HEALTH minister has insisted he cannot intervene to secure a new drug for an Otley boy with the ultra-rare genetic condition Morquio.

Liberal Democrat MP Greg Mulholland staged a Commons debate to call for urgent action to help six-year-old Sam Brown and just 87 others across the UK.

Mr Mulholland, the Leeds North-West MP, warned that Sam had been “left in limbo” by an NHS England decision to call a fresh 90-day consultation on funding the drug and demanded an “interim solution” this month.

Sam is relying “purely on the goodwill” of the drug company, BioMarin, which produces the drug – Vimizim – which eases the effects of Morquio, the MP said.

But health minister George Freeman, while promising to try to “broker an agreement”, said it was a matter for NHS England, which has yet to start the 90-day consultation.

Previously, Sam’s mother, spoke of how she was “hugely impressed” by the support of Mr Mulholland.