A P.E.I. family seeking help to pay for a $7,000-a-month drug program is not going to get any from the provincial government.
03/11/2008 12:04:26 PM
Dawn Binns of the Canadian Cancer Society says P.E.I. should not wait for Ottawa.
CBC News
Colin Spencer was diagnosed with kidney cancer in August. He has a 13-centimetre tumour on his right kidney and needs a drug called Sutent to help shrink the tumour before it can be safely cut out.
Spencer does not have private health insurance to cover the $7,000-a-month cost of the drug, and he doesn't qualify for provincial drug coverage. He has cashed in his pension to pay for his first few prescriptions, and the family's Belfast home is now on the market.
Sheila MacMurdo, Spencer's daughter, and her siblings have been lobbying government for help, but MacMurdo said last Friday the province told the family it won't cover the drug.
"We're still fighting, this is the one thing we can do for our dad," she said.
"Myself and my brother, my sister, we're working this, and we're writing letters. And we have a lot of support from family and friends and we have been trying to raise money and we have a trust fund in place for dad. And there will be a benefit, likely in January."
Provincial pharmacy director Faye Martin can't comment on specific cases, but said P.E.I. is urging the federal government to help cover the cost of expensive, catastrophic drugs.
P.E.I. spends less per capita than other provinces on drugs, and Martin said the province is looking at revamping its drug programs with or without Ottawa.
Das Kanada Forum
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03.11.2008 20:05
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