This is another reason governments, in general, can’t be trusted to do anything nor run anything properly. (Hat tip Ross M.)
As a retired carpenter who barely covers his monthly expenses, Raymond Bouchard was delighted to learn that he qualified to receive a free drug to treat the cancer that is killing him.
But Health Canada won’t release Thalomid to him because a licensed alternative is available—it just happens to come with a $35,000 price tag.
With Health Canada’s recent decision to stop releasing Thalomid, which U.S.-based Celgene Corp. will provide at no cost under its compassionate-use program, there’s no way Mr. Bouchard, 73, can afford the licensed alternative, Velcade, to treat his multiple myeloma.
Consequently, Mr. Bouchard has no effective treatment for his cancer of the blood’s plasma cells, which are found in bone marrow. His doctor says he will likely die in six to 12 months. With Thalomid (also known as thalidomide), his life could be prolonged a further six to eight months.
“It’s difficult for them [the Bouchard family] to understand that the drug is being made available for free, but a government agency is preventing them from having access to it,” said hematologist Jordan Herst of the regional cancer program at Sudbury Regional Hospital.
[… Health Canada spokeswoman Jirina] Vlk said Health Canada is aware that Velcade is expensive and is not covered everywhere in Canada, but it can’t take that into consideration when making decisions. “Cost is not a consideration.”
But cost is preventing Mr. Bouchard, who lives in the remote Northern Ontario town of Val Rita, just outside Kapuskasing, from getting what doctors say is the standard of care. Unable to afford Velcade and forbidden to use Thalomid, his only choice is chemotherapy, which has little prospect of producing a response, Dr. Herst said.
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PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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