‘Fury erupted last night after it emerged the elderly could be denied vital drugs under new funding rules.

Older patients would effectively be written off on the grounds that they no longer make a big enough financial contribution to society.

The Department of Health is demanding the changes in an attempt to cut the crippling NHS medicines bill.

But Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients’ Association, called the plans “disturbing and discriminatory”, adding: “Human life cannot be assessed in terms of cost and benefit.”’

Read more: NHS bans medicine if you are 'too old' in new attack on Britain's elderly