Breast cancer patient spends $90,000 as campaign calls for better drug access
A breast cancer patient who has spent more than $90,000 on treatment is among those calling for better access to life-saving medicine as a new campaign is set to highlight the hundreds of drugs unavailable to New Zealanders.
Judith Ansell, 70, was diagnosed with metastatic HER2-low breast cancer in 2008 and learned two years ago it had spread to her bones.
She now faces another $62,000 bill for six months of self-funded treatment after selling her home and moving in with family to cover mounting medical costs.
“The process of dealing with the illness didn’t create as much stress for me as the financial situation that I’m now in”, she said.
Ansell is among the patients backing Forbidden Pharmacy, a pop-up exhibition opening at Auckland’s Shed 10 tomorrow that will display more than 200 prescription medications not funded in New Zealand.
Statistics released in PhRMA’s recent Global Access to New Medicines Report found 95% of modern medicines are not available in New Zealand, putting our access to publicly funded amongst the lowest in the OECD.
For Ansell, the issue is deeply personal.
An avid runner, she was training for her first half marathon when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer.
Now with the disease spreading through her bones, she has undergone a hip replacement and can’t enjoy many of the activities she loved.
“I suddenly went from being this person who ran half marathons and went to the gym most days of the week to being somebody who couldn’t make a cup of tea.”
The loss of independence has been particularly difficult. Ansell said the hardest part of the diagnosis was that she can no longer pick up her three preschool age grandchildren, instead waiting for them to climb into her lap for a cuddle.
She said some of the medicines behind the glass in the exhibition could change her life.
“I’m hoping that the campaign will allow those who have the decision-making powers to pause to consider the huge financial and personal costs that the lack of funding cause for so many people in New Zealand.”
Ansell’s next recommended treatment is Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan), which is only publicly funded for some breast cancer patients in New Zealand.
Patients with HER2-low breast cancer must instead self-fund the medicine or move overseas to access publicly funded treatment.
She said the thought of returning to $9000 monthly payments for treatment made her “feel sick to my stomach”, leaving her fearful about her financial future.
“There’s this sort of weird cancer paradox ... spending the money to stay alive and then not having the money to live.”
Campaign spokesperson Tim Edmonds, the CEO of Blood Cancer NZ and chairman of Cancer Non-Governmental Organisations, said the display would highlight the real-life consequences of delayed access to medicines.
“This is the literal cost of living crisis for patients: the cost of living without the funded medicines they need but cannot access. No one should be left behind simply because they get sick.
“Patients are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for timely access to medicines that could improve, extend or save lives,” he said.
Edmonds said Kiwis’ access to many vital drugs was comparable to that of Poland, Turkey and Mexico.
“People should not have to fundraise, go into debt, move overseas, or wait while their health gets worse”, he said.
He urged New Zealanders to get behind the campaign and “help unlock the medicines New Zealand needs”.