kaaryn
07-14-2007, 12:56 PM
Sat. Jul. 14 2007 10:58 AM ET
Canadian Press
HALIFAX -- The Nova Scotia government could be held responsible for the premature deaths of some cancer patients because of its decision to reject funding for an expensive cancer drug, a colorectal cancer patient said Friday.
In a decision the province's health minister called "one of the most difficult" he's had to make, Avastin - a drug used to prevent the spread of colorectal cancer to other organs - will not be among the new cancer drugs to be publicly funded as of Aug. 1.
"The effect of this decision is that people will die before they ought to," said Jim Connors, 51, who has paid for his own treatment of Avastin.
"The minister is accountable for that, the premier is accountable for that, and the government is accountable for that."
The province has instead approved Oxaliplatin, a different drug that treats colorectal cancer, and Mab Campath, a drug that treats chronic lymphocytic leukemia for public funding.
The decision is based on recommendations by the province's Cancer Systemic Therapy Policy Committee, which includes oncologists, pharmacists and cancer survivors.
Committee members looked at the economics and new evidence on Avastin, and concluded it did not offer the same potential as Oxaliplatin in early stages of cancer.
The drug is already used to treat select cancer cases as part of a program through Health Canada.
Some 700 Nova Scotians develop colorectal cancer each year.
"Oxaliplatin ... post surgery, it prevents any micro or very small cells from being spread throughout the body, so it is in fact a cure," said Brenda Payne, a committee member and executive director of acute and tertiary care for the department of health.
"Avastin is used at advanced stages of the disease, so it does not have a curative component to it."
Chris d'Entremont, the province's health minister, said the decision was not made lightly and was based on evidence provided by the committee.
"This probably was one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made," he said in an interview. "It's one of those things where you really have to take that critical information, try to sift through it and make the right decision.
"And I think we've made the right decision."
D'Entremont said the debate on Avastin isn't closed, but the drug won't be considered for public funding unless new, clinical data is released.
Research presented last month to the Chicago-based American Society of Clinical Oncology reviewed how long Avastin can extend a cancer patient's life without the disease getting worse.
More than half of the 209 patients who took Avastin for the 2005 clinical trial survived at least 11 months - a six month jump from what previous studies reported.
But it does not come cheap.
A dozen treatments over six months costs an average of $35,000 per patient. Still, health departments in British Columbia, Newfoundland, and one health district in Quebec fund the medicine.
According to the health department, Oxaliplatin costs $2.6 million per year, while Mab Campath costs $175,000. Avastin costs about $3.6 million a year.
Connors, of Dartmouth, N.S., said the province should be ashamed of its record of paying for cancer drugs.
"(This decision) says to a group of patients ... that if you can afford to pay for this drug, you'll probably live longer," said Connors, who signed a petition bearing more than 3,100 signatures calling on the province to fund Avastin.
"If you can't afford to pay for the drug, which is most Nova Scotians, you'll die that much sooner. That's what the decision says."
New Democrat Dave Wilson, health critic for the Opposition, said Ottawa ultimately has a responsibility to provide equal access to health care across the country.
"We need to see a catastrophic drug plan in Canada so that every Canadian has the ability to access the care they need and the drugs they need to fight an illness," he said in an interview.
"That's what we're not seeing from the federal government, we're not seeing that vision.
"And really we're not seeing it from the provincial government on the continued fight to ensure the federal government recognizes the need."
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070714/nova_scotia_cancer_drugs_070714/20070714?hub=Health
Canadian Press
HALIFAX -- The Nova Scotia government could be held responsible for the premature deaths of some cancer patients because of its decision to reject funding for an expensive cancer drug, a colorectal cancer patient said Friday.
In a decision the province's health minister called "one of the most difficult" he's had to make, Avastin - a drug used to prevent the spread of colorectal cancer to other organs - will not be among the new cancer drugs to be publicly funded as of Aug. 1.
"The effect of this decision is that people will die before they ought to," said Jim Connors, 51, who has paid for his own treatment of Avastin.
"The minister is accountable for that, the premier is accountable for that, and the government is accountable for that."
The province has instead approved Oxaliplatin, a different drug that treats colorectal cancer, and Mab Campath, a drug that treats chronic lymphocytic leukemia for public funding.
The decision is based on recommendations by the province's Cancer Systemic Therapy Policy Committee, which includes oncologists, pharmacists and cancer survivors.
Committee members looked at the economics and new evidence on Avastin, and concluded it did not offer the same potential as Oxaliplatin in early stages of cancer.
The drug is already used to treat select cancer cases as part of a program through Health Canada.
Some 700 Nova Scotians develop colorectal cancer each year.
"Oxaliplatin ... post surgery, it prevents any micro or very small cells from being spread throughout the body, so it is in fact a cure," said Brenda Payne, a committee member and executive director of acute and tertiary care for the department of health.
"Avastin is used at advanced stages of the disease, so it does not have a curative component to it."
Chris d'Entremont, the province's health minister, said the decision was not made lightly and was based on evidence provided by the committee.
"This probably was one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made," he said in an interview. "It's one of those things where you really have to take that critical information, try to sift through it and make the right decision.
"And I think we've made the right decision."
D'Entremont said the debate on Avastin isn't closed, but the drug won't be considered for public funding unless new, clinical data is released.
Research presented last month to the Chicago-based American Society of Clinical Oncology reviewed how long Avastin can extend a cancer patient's life without the disease getting worse.
More than half of the 209 patients who took Avastin for the 2005 clinical trial survived at least 11 months - a six month jump from what previous studies reported.
But it does not come cheap.
A dozen treatments over six months costs an average of $35,000 per patient. Still, health departments in British Columbia, Newfoundland, and one health district in Quebec fund the medicine.
According to the health department, Oxaliplatin costs $2.6 million per year, while Mab Campath costs $175,000. Avastin costs about $3.6 million a year.
Connors, of Dartmouth, N.S., said the province should be ashamed of its record of paying for cancer drugs.
"(This decision) says to a group of patients ... that if you can afford to pay for this drug, you'll probably live longer," said Connors, who signed a petition bearing more than 3,100 signatures calling on the province to fund Avastin.
"If you can't afford to pay for the drug, which is most Nova Scotians, you'll die that much sooner. That's what the decision says."
New Democrat Dave Wilson, health critic for the Opposition, said Ottawa ultimately has a responsibility to provide equal access to health care across the country.
"We need to see a catastrophic drug plan in Canada so that every Canadian has the ability to access the care they need and the drugs they need to fight an illness," he said in an interview.
"That's what we're not seeing from the federal government, we're not seeing that vision.
"And really we're not seeing it from the provincial government on the continued fight to ensure the federal government recognizes the need."
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070714/nova_scotia_cancer_drugs_070714/20070714?hub=Health