Funding For Herceptin in Ontario

Update on breast cancer patient Jill Anzarut and her fight to get Herceptin

A lot of our supporters have been asking for an update about Jill. Many people have assumed that the Ontario governments recent announcement of a new program that will relook at cancer drugs that show promise to benefit patients means Jill will be eligible for the Herceptin she needs for treatment of her aggressive cancer.

We are disappointed to share with you that Jill is still not eligible to have her treatment of Herceptin funded by the government of Ontario. Herceptin is a critical drug in the treatment of Jilll’s HER2+ breast cancer and if she lived in another province, her treatment would be funded by the government which is unfair and unacceptable.

The government of Ontario’s new program announcement is a step forward for all cancer patients but what about Jill? It has been her tireless efforts over the past 3 weeks that has resulted in changes to cancer treatment in Ontario that will benefit thousands of people for many years.

We thank all of you who have supported our campaign efforts to date. We must continue to help Jill make sure she gets the treatment she needs to help fight her cancer.

Please help Jill by reaching out to Health Minister Deb Matthews and letting her know it is not acceptable that Jill cannot receive Herceptin without paying over $40,000 of her own money.  Jill is 34 years old with 2 young children and she is in the middle of aggressive cancer treatment.

Please copy the letter below and click the link to send this NEW letter to Health Minister Deb Matthews.

You can make a difference! You did make a difference!

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Honourable Deborah Matthews
Minister of Health and Long-Term Care
10th Floor, Hepburn Block
80 Grosvenor Street
Toronto, Ontario M7A 2C4

Dear Minister Matthews,

As someone who has been touched by cancer, I have been following the story of Jill Anzarut – a wife and mother in Ontario who urgently needs access to Herceptin.  I am writing to you to request that Jill immediately be provided this medication through public funding to treat her breast cancer.

While I appreciate your government’s recent announcement of a program for specific cancer drugs, where emerging evidence shows strong promise to benefit patients, this does not help Jill today.  She needs Herceptin right away and still does not have it.  Now is the time that Jill should be arranging her treatment and focusing on getting better.  Instead, while undergoing her chemotherapy treatments, she is worrying about how she is going to pay for a drug that could save her life.

A deeply entrenched Canadian value is universal health care.  Yet it certainly does not seem universal in the case of Jill Anzarut and the other women in Ontario with HER2-positive breast cancer who need Herceptin in similar circumstances.  I don’t think this is right.  People with cancer should not have to struggle to get the care they need.

I look forward to hearing back from you.  Please ensure that Jill receives Herceptin now – for the sake of her and her family, and the other women in Ontario who are in the same position.

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SEND YOUR LETTER NOW TO: Dmatthews.mpp@liberal.ola.org

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