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Ironically, losing financial support for her leukemia drug expenses could prove to be a boon for Sherrie Leavelle of Scottsdale, Ariz.
Leavelle was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia in 2002. The 73-year -old takes Gleevec, a chemotherapy pill manufactured by Novartis, since 2003.
She is eager to share the news with friends on a Internet support group for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia that she may be among a group of patients who have stopped their illness years of taking Gleevec, and can pbad without consequences. Mark Edwards, professor of mathematics and science retired at Pocatello High School, is a member of the support group
Immediately after his diagnosis, the doctor informed Leavelle that she had a year to live . Then he told him about a promising new drug, Gleevec. Today, the annual cost of a Gleevec prescription is $ 146,000. It cost $ 26,000 when the drug was released in 2001.
"I want the drug companies to make profits, because that's the American way." But I do not want them to sink the public in general, "said Leavelle. "Why can not we have a type of group that oversees the profit margin on vital drugs?"
For years, Leavelle received badistance grants for his personal expenses for Gleevec. The grants are funded by pharmaceutical companies, aimed at helping patients on Medicare, who can not use copay cards. Sometimes she resorts to begging and asks for renewals.
"You go from prescription to prescription hoping that everything is fine, and if that is not the case, all hope is lost," Leavelle said. "I was worried to the point where you were awake all the time."
Leavelle has not taken Gleevec since January, when his series of successful grant renewals came to an end. His previously affordable monthly copay has soared to $ 1,200. After she stopped taking the drug and her health did not seem to be deteriorating, her oncologist included her in a study to see if she was a candidate for the definitive withdrawal of the drug.
On June 26, Novartis representatives told Leavelle The Foundation renews its grant for Gleevec until December, which is good news if its tests show that it should be in place. stick to cancer drugs, after all.
Edwards recently learned that he was not a candidate to stop taking his meds. His doctor told him that his white blood cell count had started to increase in the month he stopped for financial reasons
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