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Help Suzanne Aucoin
March 31, 2006 - The St. Catharines
Standard
Funding approved in cancer battle: Decision leaves woman grateful but perplexed
The Standard (St. Catharines)
Friday, March 31, 2006
Page: A1 / FRONT
Section: News
Byline: Peter Downs
Source: The Standard
Part 6
She thought she had beaten it. But in late 2003, Suzanne Aucoin was rediagnosed with
a terminal case of colorectal cancer. The Standard is following Suzanne's fight with
cancer in this continuing series.
- - -
She's grateful, but confused.
After spending thousands of dollars out of her own pocket, Suzanne Aucoin learned
Tuesday that the provincial government will pay for her to be treated in the U.S. with
an expensive drug to fight terminal colon cancer.
That's the part for which she's grateful.
"It finally feels like I got some justice. That's the way it feels more than anything. I got
some equitable treatment for a change," said Aucoin, 35.
But the St. Catharines woman is also puzzled.
She doesn't understand why her first application for out-of-country OHIP coverage was
turned down six months ago, considering her health situation hasn't changed.
And she doesn't understand why OHIP will pay about $25,000 a month for her to
receive the drug, Erbitux, at a Buffalo clinic when she's currently paying approximately
a quarter that amount to get it in Hamilton.
"It makes absolutely no sense to me," said Aucoin, who was rediagnosed with colon
cancer in November 2003 after believing she had beaten it four years earlier.
Aucoin had been paying $14,000 US per month for treatment with Erbitux at a clinic in
West Seneca, N.Y., beginning last October.
In late December, Health Canada granted Aucoin special access to receive the drug on
this side of the border.
She became the first person to be treated with Erbitux at Hamilton's Juravinski Cancer
Centre. She has been paying approximately $6,400 Cdn per month for the intravenous
medication.
Patients with advanced colorectal cancer who have been told by their physicians that
Erbitux is a last resort to prolong their lives -- such as Aucoin -- can apply to OHIP for
out-of-country coverage to pay for the drug.
Aucoin's first application for the funding was turned down last October shortly before
she began paying for treatment in West Seneca, a Buffalo suburb.
Her Hamilton oncologist, Dr. Pierre Major, said he recently sent in a second
application at the recommendation of a government official who indicated the ministry
would be approving some out-of-country funding.
"I re-submitted for several patients and to date I haven't had any refusals," said Major.
"It must have been a change in directives."
Aucoin learned Tuesday the government has initially agreed to pay up to $51,000 Cdn
for her to get Erbitux treatment at Buffalo's Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
The out-of-country coverage agreement doesn't specify a time frame for treatment.
But Aucoin's oncologist said the agreements generally begin with a two-month
coverage period and are renewed if the treatment is deemed successful.
That would mean it will cost the government approximately $25,000 per month to
cover Aucoin's treatment in New York -- almost four times as much as she's paying for
the same medication in Ontario.
Ontario's Health Ministry says it's willing to pay for Ontario patients in need to receive
Erbitux in the U.S. because the drug is not approved for funding in the province.
The ministry said the cost Ontario patients may pay for Erbitux at home through
federal special-access agreements has no bearing on how much OHIP must pay
American hospitals for out-of-country coverage. Special-access costs are decided
between the drug manufacturer and the hospital that administers the treatment.
Health Canada approved Erbitux for use last September, but each province must
determine individually whether to pay for the drug. So far, none of them have made
that decision.
Ontario hasn't begun to review the drug because its manufacturer -- Bristol-Myers
Squibb -- hasn't yet applied to sell it in the province, said a Health Ministry spokesman.
Over the past year, OHIP has spent $521,212 for 24 Ontario patients to be treated with
Erbitux outside the country, according to the ministry.
Aucoin said she can't afford to waste time or money trying to make sense of the
funding situation.
She needs to continue her treatment with Erbitux -- the last approved drug that offers
patients with terminal colorectal cancer hope to slow the progression of the disease.
And she needs to try to conserve the money friends and supporters have donated to
help her fight the disease.
Over the past two years, roughly $130,000 was raised for Aucoin's medical expenses
through a variety of fundraising events. Much of the fund has already been exhausted
on medications not covered by OHIP.
At some point, Erbitux will stop holding Aucoin's cancer back.
And when that happens, she'll need to use what's left in her medical treatment fund
to pay for other costly alternatives, such as expenses associated with participating in
clinical trials for new cancer drugs.
"I have to go with it (the out-of-country coverage). I need the money I've got for other
treatments," she said. "Those will probably be in the States. I don't know those things
for sure, but I've got to prepare for it."
And she may have to be ready to make a change earlier than she had hoped.
A recent blood test indicated Aucoin's cancer could be on the move.
The test showed a protein molecule in her blood -- called a carcinoembryonic antigen,
or CEA for short -- had jumped significantly since her last test two weeks earlier.
Doctors use CEA levels as an indicator of cancer activity. Often, if the level spikes, it
means there's new tumour growth. The only way to know for certain is to undergo a
CT scan.
Aucoin will have a scan April 10 to determine if there's been any change in the cancer
that began in her colon and migrated to her liver and lungs.
If the cancerous cells have spread, it will mean that Erbitux is no longer a viable
treatment for her.
"I always think it would be so ironic that I'll get approved (for funding) and then I won't
need the drug anymore. That's part of my thinking. But I'm trying not to go there
because that's not helpful thinking," said Aucoin, who is single and lives with her
parents in Port Dalhousie. She is on leave
of absence from her job as chaplain at Denis Morris High School.
As she awaits the CT scan, Aucoin will begin Erbitux treatment in Buffalo as soon as
possible -- probably in two weeks.
She has also hired a lawyer to seek reimbursement from the provincial government for
the money she has spent on the drug since her first application for out-of-country
coverage was turned down.
"It's never straightforward in my life," she said. "I feel like I'm constantly on an obstacle
course. Every day it's just, 'Okay, how am I going to tackle this obstacle.' Again and
again and again. But you do it because you have to, and it gets done eventually."
pdowns@stcatharinesstandard.ca
Standard
Funding approved in cancer battle: Decision leaves woman grateful but perplexed
The Standard (St. Catharines)
Friday, March 31, 2006
Page: A1 / FRONT
Section: News
Byline: Peter Downs
Source: The Standard
Part 6
She thought she had beaten it. But in late 2003, Suzanne Aucoin was rediagnosed with
a terminal case of colorectal cancer. The Standard is following Suzanne's fight with
cancer in this continuing series.
- - -
She's grateful, but confused.
After spending thousands of dollars out of her own pocket, Suzanne Aucoin learned
Tuesday that the provincial government will pay for her to be treated in the U.S. with
an expensive drug to fight terminal colon cancer.
That's the part for which she's grateful.
"It finally feels like I got some justice. That's the way it feels more than anything. I got
some equitable treatment for a change," said Aucoin, 35.
But the St. Catharines woman is also puzzled.
She doesn't understand why her first application for out-of-country OHIP coverage was
turned down six months ago, considering her health situation hasn't changed.
And she doesn't understand why OHIP will pay about $25,000 a month for her to
receive the drug, Erbitux, at a Buffalo clinic when she's currently paying approximately
a quarter that amount to get it in Hamilton.
"It makes absolutely no sense to me," said Aucoin, who was rediagnosed with colon
cancer in November 2003 after believing she had beaten it four years earlier.
Aucoin had been paying $14,000 US per month for treatment with Erbitux at a clinic in
West Seneca, N.Y., beginning last October.
In late December, Health Canada granted Aucoin special access to receive the drug on
this side of the border.
She became the first person to be treated with Erbitux at Hamilton's Juravinski Cancer
Centre. She has been paying approximately $6,400 Cdn per month for the intravenous
medication.
Patients with advanced colorectal cancer who have been told by their physicians that
Erbitux is a last resort to prolong their lives -- such as Aucoin -- can apply to OHIP for
out-of-country coverage to pay for the drug.
Aucoin's first application for the funding was turned down last October shortly before
she began paying for treatment in West Seneca, a Buffalo suburb.
Her Hamilton oncologist, Dr. Pierre Major, said he recently sent in a second
application at the recommendation of a government official who indicated the ministry
would be approving some out-of-country funding.
"I re-submitted for several patients and to date I haven't had any refusals," said Major.
"It must have been a change in directives."
Aucoin learned Tuesday the government has initially agreed to pay up to $51,000 Cdn
for her to get Erbitux treatment at Buffalo's Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
The out-of-country coverage agreement doesn't specify a time frame for treatment.
But Aucoin's oncologist said the agreements generally begin with a two-month
coverage period and are renewed if the treatment is deemed successful.
That would mean it will cost the government approximately $25,000 per month to
cover Aucoin's treatment in New York -- almost four times as much as she's paying for
the same medication in Ontario.
Ontario's Health Ministry says it's willing to pay for Ontario patients in need to receive
Erbitux in the U.S. because the drug is not approved for funding in the province.
The ministry said the cost Ontario patients may pay for Erbitux at home through
federal special-access agreements has no bearing on how much OHIP must pay
American hospitals for out-of-country coverage. Special-access costs are decided
between the drug manufacturer and the hospital that administers the treatment.
Health Canada approved Erbitux for use last September, but each province must
determine individually whether to pay for the drug. So far, none of them have made
that decision.
Ontario hasn't begun to review the drug because its manufacturer -- Bristol-Myers
Squibb -- hasn't yet applied to sell it in the province, said a Health Ministry spokesman.
Over the past year, OHIP has spent $521,212 for 24 Ontario patients to be treated with
Erbitux outside the country, according to the ministry.
Aucoin said she can't afford to waste time or money trying to make sense of the
funding situation.
She needs to continue her treatment with Erbitux -- the last approved drug that offers
patients with terminal colorectal cancer hope to slow the progression of the disease.
And she needs to try to conserve the money friends and supporters have donated to
help her fight the disease.
Over the past two years, roughly $130,000 was raised for Aucoin's medical expenses
through a variety of fundraising events. Much of the fund has already been exhausted
on medications not covered by OHIP.
At some point, Erbitux will stop holding Aucoin's cancer back.
And when that happens, she'll need to use what's left in her medical treatment fund
to pay for other costly alternatives, such as expenses associated with participating in
clinical trials for new cancer drugs.
"I have to go with it (the out-of-country coverage). I need the money I've got for other
treatments," she said. "Those will probably be in the States. I don't know those things
for sure, but I've got to prepare for it."
And she may have to be ready to make a change earlier than she had hoped.
A recent blood test indicated Aucoin's cancer could be on the move.
The test showed a protein molecule in her blood -- called a carcinoembryonic antigen,
or CEA for short -- had jumped significantly since her last test two weeks earlier.
Doctors use CEA levels as an indicator of cancer activity. Often, if the level spikes, it
means there's new tumour growth. The only way to know for certain is to undergo a
CT scan.
Aucoin will have a scan April 10 to determine if there's been any change in the cancer
that began in her colon and migrated to her liver and lungs.
If the cancerous cells have spread, it will mean that Erbitux is no longer a viable
treatment for her.
"I always think it would be so ironic that I'll get approved (for funding) and then I won't
need the drug anymore. That's part of my thinking. But I'm trying not to go there
because that's not helpful thinking," said Aucoin, who is single and lives with her
parents in Port Dalhousie. She is on leave
of absence from her job as chaplain at Denis Morris High School.
As she awaits the CT scan, Aucoin will begin Erbitux treatment in Buffalo as soon as
possible -- probably in two weeks.
She has also hired a lawyer to seek reimbursement from the provincial government for
the money she has spent on the drug since her first application for out-of-country
coverage was turned down.
"It's never straightforward in my life," she said. "I feel like I'm constantly on an obstacle
course. Every day it's just, 'Okay, how am I going to tackle this obstacle.' Again and
again and again. But you do it because you have to, and it gets done eventually."
pdowns@stcatharinesstandard.ca