Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Provincial funding of cancer drug Avastin is unlikely

From the Fredericton (NB) Daily Gleaner:
Officials from New Brunswick's Department of Health say they're not ready to change their minds about adding cancer drug Avastin to the provincial medical formulary.

Avastin is mainly prescribed for colorectal cancer patients and the manufacturers of the medication say a dozen treatments given over a six-month period cost about $21,000.

After Nova Scotia recently became the fifth province in Canada to fund the costly cancer treatment, advocate Carrol Stewart thought New Brunswick might revisit its decision.

Stewart said she has collected almost 4,000 signatures of people who believe the province should add the drug to the provincial formulary.

She said she recently submitted the list of signatures to Health Minister Mike Murphy's office and sent copies to Premier Shawn Graham and several MLAs and MPs. ...more

No comments: