Ibrance — that’s the name of the drug that 42-year-old breast cancer patient Karen McLaren can’t afford.
But it’s also a drug that the Langley resident can’t afford not to have.
WATCH: B.C. patients plead for drug funding
McLaren, a former model, was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. She beat the disease, but it came back with a vengeance 10 years later.
Now, she’s living with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. That means the disease has spread to other parts of her body.
“What your brain goes to, ‘I’ve just been given a death sentence,'” she told Global News.
She’s been prescribed Ibrance, a drug that’s approved by Health Canada, but that’s not funded by the BC Cancer Agency.
And it’s a costly treatment: $262.40 per pill, and about $8,000 per month.
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McLaren’s father paid for her first 21-day cycle with the drug, but it’s not economically sustainable.
“He’s like, I’ll pay for you to cure you, and I’ll pay whatever it takes to cure you,” she said.
“But how do you bankrupt your father with a hope?”
Ashley McDonald, a Maple Ridge resident, takes Ibrance, and it’s given her life back.
But the drug is covered by the American company she works for — it has an insurance provider that funds it.
“I was shocked to hear that women up here with my same diagnosis don’t have access to treatment that is effectively working for metastatic breast cancer patients that I am currently on, and has put me in remission,” McDonald said.
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Helen Anderson with the BC Cancer Agency told Global News that the drug is under discussion.
“It is under active consideration,” she said.
“It’s an effective drug, it is, of course, very costly, and we are looking very seriously at whether we are going to fund this drug.”
A decision on the drug is expected in two to three months.
In the meantime, McLaren is looking at ways to pay for the drug that could save her life.
“This is a piece of hope, so how do you not pay for it?” she said.
But she’s not alone in seeking help to pay for Ibrance.
Carol Powell is also living with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. She had her husband Mike have spent $17,000 on the drug in two months.
As a client of Pacific Blue Cross, Powell thought she would be covered, but she wasn’t.
In a statement, Pacific Blue Cross said the BC Cancer Agency is the “primary drug coverage provider for British Columbians diagnosed with cancer.
“When we receive a drug claim not covered by the BC Cancer Agency, we refer to published reviews such as the pan-Canadian Oncology Drug Review (pCODR) for objective evidence about the optimal use of drugs to guide our decision.
“We then communicate back to the member if the cost of the drug will be reimbursed by their plan.”
The two to three months that the BC Cancer Agency expects to spend deciding on whether to fund Ibrance could be too long a wait for patients like Powell.
“I start calculating in my mind how much it costs, how much savings we have, and how long I can maintain this for,” she said.
“That’s a countdown that I don’t want to…”
- With files from Lynda Steele, CKNW