Think Pinker

According to tvnz.co.nz Pharmac the crown entity responsible for drug coverage is limiting the drug Herceptin to 9 weeks of paid treatment when Genetech the manufacturer recommends a 52 week treatment. Pharmac has decided to continue paying for only nine weeks, even though the court recommended they reconsider they’ they’ve decided to stick by it.

This is a highly controversial decision since Herceptin recommends a fully 52 week treatment course and 33 other countries cover the entire treatment. US government prescription drug plans as well as private drug plans cover the full 52 week. In New Zealand women are left in need of around $60,000 to complete this very promising adjuvant treatment of HER2 breast cancer.

Herceptin is used various ways and is usually combined with various chemotherapy treatments. It has been approved as a first line treatment of HER2 overexpressing metastatic breast cancer. This treatment is usually administered in the doctors office using an intravenous drip lasting 30 to 90 minutes depending on your dosage.

There are some side affects associated with this drug but nothing too overwhelming and when your chemo treatments end you’ll loose all the chemo side effects and be left with only the few associated with Herceptin which is not a chemo drug.

Herceptin is a very promising treatment for this form of breast cancer so one has to question why they would introduce this treatment and the hope associated with it to women with HER2 breast cancer and then just as quickly yank the funding away. Pharmac claims that they feel the $15 million it would cost can be better spent treating more women and that there is no evidence to extend treatment beyond nine weeks, yet on their own website they show a 52 week treatment.

Thankfully other countries like Canada and the US feel differently. In Canada BC was the first province to step up to the plate and provide coverage for a full year of treatment