Text by Margaret Connolly
” Thirteen years ago, a five-year old boy told me all he wanted for Christmas was, “Just one thing, Auntie Margaret: Five minutes with my mummy.”
It broke my heart – his wonderful mummy, Helen Mulhearn, had suffered an awful death 16 months before due to late-diagnosed breast cancer. At that time there were not many drugs that could have helped her. Then four and a half years ago, I was found to have breast cancer too. I was lucky – I was diagnosed early, and with standard breast cancer suitable for a drug that cost just pennies, thank God.
A new drug developed by Roche, one of the biggest pharmaceutical gains in the world, could help these young women with advanced breast cancer — but Roche has priced the drug at £90,000, out of reach of both England and Scotland’s public health services. When asked why this drug was so expensive, Jennifer Cozzone — the head of pricing at Roche — actually said it reflects the “value” to the patient, effectively shutting out low-income patients!
Sign our Care2 petition today, and call on Roche to reduce the price of KADCYLA to a level that all public health services can cover! This drug should be available as a matter of course! ”
Sources and more information:
- Roche: Lower the cost of your breast cancer drug so public health services can afford it!, Care2 Petition.
- Petition Calls on Roche to Cut Breast Cancer Drug Price, medscape, October 22, 2014.