In his paper , he also wrote about a 46-year-old woman with breast cancer who paid 250 pounds for a second opinion when the health service refused to provide her with one ; an elderly man who spent thousands of dollars on a new hearing aid instead of enduring a yearlong wait on the health service ; and a 29-year-old woman who , with her doctor 's blessing , bought a three-month supply of Tarceva , a drug to treat pancreatic cancer , for more than $ 6,000 on the Internet because she could not get it through the N.H.S. Asked why these were different from cases like Mrs. Hirst 's , a spokeswoman for the health service said no officials were available to comment .