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Help Suzanne Aucoin
Nov. 25, 2006 - The St. Catharines Standard
Editorial
St. Catharines Standard (ON)
Viewpoint, Saturday, November 25, 2006, p. A12
Calls for pharmacare ignored for too long
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's announcement Friday of a national
cancer-fighting strategy included nothing about helping patients deal with
overwhelming drug costs.
The call for a national pharmacare program has been ignored by the federal
government for more than 40 years, and people like Suzanne Aucoin are paying
the price.
Aucoin has been fighting both cancer and the health-care bureaucracy in
Ontario. The St. Catharines woman, who was diagnosed with terminal colon
cancer three years ago, was recently turned down in her bid to be reimbursed
by OHIP for more than $52,000 she spent on cancer drugs in New York state
and Hamilton.
But the principle that sick people shouldn't have to go broke paying for
drugs was first broached in 1964 when Justice Emmett Hall's Royal Commission
on Health Services recommended a national pharmacare program.
In 1997, the National Forum on Health made the same recommendation. Five
years later, a Senate committee called for a plan that would protect
Canadians against catastrophic drug costs. Said the report: "The committee
strongly supports the view that no Canadian should suffer undue financial
hardship as a result of having to pay health-care bills."
Roy Romanow, who headed the Commission on the Future of Health Care in
Canada, recommended in 2002 that the federal government transfer $1 billion
a year to the provinces to cover catastrophic drug expenses. Romanow said
that "prescription drugs are an increasingly important part of our
health-care system. But too many Canadians have no drug coverage at all, and
existing provincial drug insurance coverage is uneven."
Last month, the Canadian Cancer Society urged Ottawa to establish a national
pharmaceutical strategy to "ensure that all Canadians have full and
equitable access to drug treatment and care."
Ottawa's inaction means that for people like Aucoin, cancer is a financial
battle as well as a health-care fight. Her Hamilton oncologist told her that
the intravenous drug Erbitux represented the best chance at prolonging her
life. However, it is not commercially available in Ontario.
After OHIP turned her down for out-of-country coverage, Aucoin decided to
pay for the drug treatment on her own, spending about $31,000 at a clinic in
West Seneca, N.Y., and more than $21,000 at Hamilton's cancer centre through
a federal special-access program.
After OHIP changed its mind and agreed to out-of-country coverage, Aucoin
appealed for reimbursement of her medical expenses. Last week, Ontario's
Health Services Appeal and Review Board said no. But Aucoin got some good
news Thursday when the Ontario ombudsman agreed to investigate her case.
Aucoin has been put through the ringer of the health-care bureaucratic
machine. But she has fought back, going public with her struggle, and the
community has rallied around her, raising thousands of dollars for her
cancer treatment.
But for every Suzanne Aucoin, there are untold numbers of cancer patients
saddled with huge drug bills who don't have the wherewithal or energy to
fight back.
Harper's announcement Friday of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, a
"clearing house" for the latest information on cancer care, was a welcome
one. But it's also time the federal government responded to the calls for a
national drug plan.
Editorial
St. Catharines Standard (ON)
Viewpoint, Saturday, November 25, 2006, p. A12
Calls for pharmacare ignored for too long
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's announcement Friday of a national
cancer-fighting strategy included nothing about helping patients deal with
overwhelming drug costs.
The call for a national pharmacare program has been ignored by the federal
government for more than 40 years, and people like Suzanne Aucoin are paying
the price.
Aucoin has been fighting both cancer and the health-care bureaucracy in
Ontario. The St. Catharines woman, who was diagnosed with terminal colon
cancer three years ago, was recently turned down in her bid to be reimbursed
by OHIP for more than $52,000 she spent on cancer drugs in New York state
and Hamilton.
But the principle that sick people shouldn't have to go broke paying for
drugs was first broached in 1964 when Justice Emmett Hall's Royal Commission
on Health Services recommended a national pharmacare program.
In 1997, the National Forum on Health made the same recommendation. Five
years later, a Senate committee called for a plan that would protect
Canadians against catastrophic drug costs. Said the report: "The committee
strongly supports the view that no Canadian should suffer undue financial
hardship as a result of having to pay health-care bills."
Roy Romanow, who headed the Commission on the Future of Health Care in
Canada, recommended in 2002 that the federal government transfer $1 billion
a year to the provinces to cover catastrophic drug expenses. Romanow said
that "prescription drugs are an increasingly important part of our
health-care system. But too many Canadians have no drug coverage at all, and
existing provincial drug insurance coverage is uneven."
Last month, the Canadian Cancer Society urged Ottawa to establish a national
pharmaceutical strategy to "ensure that all Canadians have full and
equitable access to drug treatment and care."
Ottawa's inaction means that for people like Aucoin, cancer is a financial
battle as well as a health-care fight. Her Hamilton oncologist told her that
the intravenous drug Erbitux represented the best chance at prolonging her
life. However, it is not commercially available in Ontario.
After OHIP turned her down for out-of-country coverage, Aucoin decided to
pay for the drug treatment on her own, spending about $31,000 at a clinic in
West Seneca, N.Y., and more than $21,000 at Hamilton's cancer centre through
a federal special-access program.
After OHIP changed its mind and agreed to out-of-country coverage, Aucoin
appealed for reimbursement of her medical expenses. Last week, Ontario's
Health Services Appeal and Review Board said no. But Aucoin got some good
news Thursday when the Ontario ombudsman agreed to investigate her case.
Aucoin has been put through the ringer of the health-care bureaucratic
machine. But she has fought back, going public with her struggle, and the
community has rallied around her, raising thousands of dollars for her
cancer treatment.
But for every Suzanne Aucoin, there are untold numbers of cancer patients
saddled with huge drug bills who don't have the wherewithal or energy to
fight back.
Harper's announcement Friday of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer, a
"clearing house" for the latest information on cancer care, was a welcome
one. But it's also time the federal government responded to the calls for a
national drug plan.