Ontario joins other provinces in expanding funding for cancer drug Herceptin

<p>TORONTO – Ontario is moving to join other provinces in funding the cancer drug Herceptin for small tumours following a public outcry sparked by a breast cancer patient.</p> <p>Cancer Care Ontario announced Thursday that it will fund Herceptin, in conjunction with chemotherapy, for tumours that are one centimetre or less under a new program that offers temporary funding for certain drugs.</p> <p>Jill Anzarut, 35, ignited a firestorm in March when she publicly complained that the province refused to pay for the potentially life-saving treatment because her tumour was too small.</p> <p>Anzarut’s tumour was a half-centimetre in diameter. At the time, only patients with tumours larger than a centimetre qualified for Herceptin treatment in Ontario.</p> <p>Patients with smaller tumours can get Herceptin in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan, while some other provinces provide it on a case-by-case basis.</p> <p>Anzarut’s story made headlines in Ontario and prompted an investigation by the provincial ombudsman Andre Marin.</p> <p>Health Minister Deb Matthews initially resisted calls to fund the drug for smaller tumours, saying she would not politicize the process by interfering in funding decisions.</p> <p>About a week later, Matthews announced that Ontario would allow “conditional” expanded coverage for some cancer drugs where there was evidence that it could have benefits beyond the current criteria.</p> <p>She said the new guidelines would be in place by May – the same month that Anzarut was told she should start treatment.</p> <p>Under Ontario’s “Evidence-Based Program,” the province will fund drugs on a “time-limited” basis so information can be collected “on its clinical and cost effectiveness.”</p> <p>The data will then be used by the government to “help inform a final change to existing funding criteria,” according to Cancer Care Ontario’s website.</p> <p>”I remain committed to relying on evidence when we make decisions about which drugs taxpayers will fund,” Matthews said Thursday in a statement.</p> <p>”I’m encouraged to see Ontario’s cancer experts take the next step forward and move to build an evidence-based program for cancer drugs. I know this is going to benefit Ontario’s cancer patients.”</p> <p>Marin said he’s suspending his probe because the province has decided to expand funding of the drug.</p> <p>”I’m very pleased with the ministry’s ongoing efforts to make drug funding decisions more fair and evidence-based,” he said.</p> <p>Marin said he’s seeking regular updates from the government and will continue to monitor any developments or complaints on the issue. </p> <p>NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, who pressured the governing Liberals to make the change, said she’s pleased the Ministry of Health has decided to do the right thing.</p> <p>”It is the government’s job to answer for bureaucratic decisions that lack compassion, transparency and common sense,” she said in a statement.</p> <p>”The bottom line is: no woman or man who is diagnosed with breast cancer should have to fight their cancer as well as the government.”</p>