This weekend Global News 16×9 featured a somber story on how the high costs of cancer drugs are causing many Canadians to make a choice no one should have to make: putting a price on the value of their lives.
Gary Pope shares a heartbreaking story of losing insurance coverage to pay for his wife’s cancer drug, Nexavar. The $3200 monthly bill was too much, and his wife refused to sell the house to pay for her medicines. She passed away 6 months later.
James Gowing, a medical oncologist, says he knows of doctors who are hesitant to tell patients about these treatments knowing that they won’t be able to pay for them
Meanwhile Steve Morgan, Director of UBC’s Center for Health Services and Policy Research describes the current system as “unfair.” Canadians experience a patchwork of prescription drug coverage with significant discrepancies between provinces and drugs. He also notes that navigating this system poses a great difficulty for many patients.
You can watch Gary Pope’s daughter talk about the efforts her family went through to try get coverage for her mother’s medications.
“Until you go through something like this yourself, we as Canadians assume that when you get sick there will be help there for you. When you find out there’s no help there for you, it’s pretty devastating.”
16×9 producer chats about options for patients to find funding for oral cancer treatments, and the consequences for those patients who fall through the gaps.
You can read the whole story here.
Nobody should have to put a price on their lives, and the lives of their loved ones. If you think everyone deserves access to affordable medicine, you can make a difference. Add your name to the Declaration, share this story with your networks and join the conversation. It doesn’t have to be this way.
