Karl Schembri
Breast cancer patients in need of Herceptin were given a nice surprise from Boffa Hospital as they were informed that today they will get their first free dose of the costly drug after months of delays.
The batch ordered from the UK was feared to be delayed yet again last week, when patients were initially told to order their next dose due today from the private importer.
But staff at Boffa Hospital called the three patients currently undergoing Herceptin treatement again last Monday informing them that the drug had finally arrived.
“This is really great news for us,” one of the patients said yesterday. “We would like to thank (Health Parliamentary Secretary) Dr Joe Cassar who has given us and our families a wonderful Christmas present.”
The Action for Breast Cancer Foundation (ABCF) which has been lobbying with government to provide Herceptin for free, also welcomed the news with enthusiasm yesterday.
“I have no words to describe what this means to people suffering from breast cancer,” Esther Sant, co-founder of ABCF, said yesterday. “Every woman deserves a chance of survival. We now expect that next year, whoever needs Herceptin will get it as a standard procedure. We also wish to thank Dr Cassar for listening to us. He has been a gentleman and we’re happy to note that he has delivered since he took over.”
A health ministry statement yesterday said the consignment was made of a batch of 20 vials that were meant as a speedy help to those getting treatment until the bigger tender is adjudicated. Each vial cost €535.
Dr Cassar was under mounting pressure to deliver on his promise earlier this year when he announced Herceptin would be included on the national health service.
One in five breast cancer patients are diagnosed HER-2, the most aggressive tumour, for which they are prescribed Trastuzumab, which is sold under the trade name Herceptin. It is a drug administered from a drip through an injection, with a full course costing between €39,600 (Lm17,000) and €46,500 (Lm20,000), depending on the woman’s weight.
Last September, Vivien Mifsud took the step to come out on MaltaToday in the campaign for Herceptin by recounting the story of her own ordeal with breast cancer, not only fighting for her life but also spending all the family’s money set aside for a decent pension and for her son.
“When I got to know I had cancer, we were stunned, but we took it positively and said we’ll fight it together,” Mifsud said. “It was not the end of the world. But when two months later I was prescribed Herceptin, I knew the costs it involved, and we had no choice… it was bad enough losing all my hair and all the bad things that come with living with cancer, but topping it all there was this exorbitant cost. It was like a death sentence, we had no choice whatsoever. Either Herceptin, or death. You’re looking at this mountain, but when on top of that there is Herceptin, you’re facing Everest.”
Shedding light on the extent of the financial hardships involved, Mifsud had said: “The Lm7,000 we put into it was our life funding. We came out of it exactly. If it hadn’t been for our funds and the help we got we would have probably had to sell our house.”
Since Cassar announced government’s decision last April, patients have been waiting eagerly for the drug to be made available to alleviate their hardships, as their families had to spend all their savings for their beloved ones afflicted, while others had to forego treatment altogether due to the prohibitive costs.
Fearing that dozens of women were falling in the latter category, ABCF – which lobbied hard with the government for Herceptin – said only the cases of women who were somehow financing their Herceptin treatment were known.
While government officially approved Herceptin to be on the health service’s formulary of medicines at the end of September, the official request for a small supply of Herceptin was only made on 14 November, while the finance ministry only gave the final approval on 10 December.
A call for quotations issued by the government for the supply Herceptin has resulted in three shockingly different prices. The lowest offer was made by UK-based pharmaceutical wholesaler, Miller & Miller, whose price for 10 vials of Herceptin was set at €5,756.81. In contrast, Cherubino – the Maltese wholesaler from whom breast cancer patients are buying their medicine – gave a price that was €1,779.61 more expensive, totaling €7,536.42 for 10 vials. Another UK-based company, P&D, quoted the price of €9,341.79 for the same amount.
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