Hope for Metastatic TNBC & Plea for Help

JohnAquilino

TNBC HOPE & Plea for Help

There is real hope for women with metastatic Triple Negative
Breast Cancer.

The Good News:

Dr. Joyce O’Shaunessy devised a combination of drugs for
Lori Jean White, a patient she is treating at Baylor Charles A. Sammons Cancer
Center in Dallas, Texas.

The trio of Avastin (bevacizumab), Halaven (eribulin mesylate),
and Xeloda (capecitabine) is working.

Lori’s tumor markers have receded from 75 to 50.Her brain mets are virtually non-existent and
a 4 cm tumor on her liver is shrinking.This
is not a cure…but it is beating back Triple Negative Breast Cancer and
extending Lori’s life until research in immunotherapy can defeat cancer once
and for all!

Despite an initial four month “expriation date” decree, Lori
White has survived for 37 months after being treated at Maryland’s Suburban
Hospital, MD Anderson in Houston, clinical trials at Johns Hopkins, Georgetown
University, the National Cancer Institute and Mary Crowley Cancer Research
Center in Dallas.Regardless of the
treatment prior to Dr. O’Shaunessy’s Avastin, Halaven, Xeloda combination, Lori’s
brain mets reoccurred followed by the liver tumor.

The Bad News:

United Health Care refuses to pay for the Avastin – an out
of pocket expense in excess of $15,000 a treatment claiming FDA does not
approve of Avastin to treat breast cancer and that the O’Shaunessy treatment is
“experimental” in spite of the fact that it is working.

Background:

Avastin years ago proved
its ability to inhibit metastatic breast cancer.In 2011 an “outside” advisory group persuaded
FDA to revoke approval of Avastin to treat breast cancer due to their conclusion
that the literature showed no benefit of extending or improving quality of life
while never denying it did slow the progression of metastatic breast cancer.

United Health Care used that questionable conclusion to
determine that the combination of drugs “has not been proven to be effective in
the combination requested.”They are
blatantly ignoring the success of the therapy for Lori White and another of Dr.
O’Shaunessy’s patients.

United Healthcare’s Duplicity

In its mission statement, UHC claims “our mission is to help
people live better lives.”UHC boasts of
its role of “Innovation” saying it devotes “our collective resources …to
continuously testing new, targeted ways to raise the bar in health.”Its corporate “Code of Conduct” lists five
values it says drive the company: Integrity, Compassion, Relationships,
Innovation, and Performance.”

Without Avastin in the chemo “cocktail” prescribed by Dr. O’Shaunessy,
Lori White will die.By denying Lori
White this three-drug combination, United Healthcare is condemning tens of thousands
of other women to die.Is that
Compassion?Is that integrity?

That same Code of Conduct says UHC “always acts in the best
interest of our customers, consumers and community…”Is condemning one or ten thousand women to
death in their “best interest” or the “best interest of the community?”The UHC Code of Conduct brochure has a
headline blazoned across it: “Never Compromise Ethics.”

Dr. O’Shaunessy’s treatment using Avastin, Halaven, and
Xeloda in combination is working were other therapies failed.That combination has the potential of extending
and saving the lives of countless TNBC afflicted women.AND
UNITED HEALTHCARE SAYS…WE DON’T CARE!

WHERE ARE THE ETHICS
IN THAT!

We Need Your Help!

Last year UHC earned $7.3 billion dollars on revenues of
$113.8 billion dollars.

United Healthcare cares about their profits, not about your
lives.

Make them feel your outrage.It’s time to flood their phone lines and mail room with the demand that
they pay for this important therapy.They
need to hear from you so other TNBC patients might live.

Call them.Write
them.Send this to your local radio,
television and social media outlets.

UHC from the top executive to its appeals unit needs to hear
your voice.

Tell United Health Group & United HealthCare to

• Pay for Avastin for Lori Jean White Member
  ID-913018014
• And save countless TNBC patients’ lives

United Health Group CEO – Stephen J. Hemsley

800 328-5979

PO Box 1459

Minneapolis, MN 55440

United Healthcare CEO - Gail K. Boudreaux

866 633-2446

UnitedHealthcare Appeals Unit

PO Box 30573

Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0573

FAX 801-994-1083

Tell the FDA –

• Approve the use of Avastin for metastatic breast
  cancer
• Tell United Healthcare to pay for its use
  against breast cancer

FDA Commissioner – Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg via her Executive
Assistant Angela Hoague

• Angela.hoague@fda.hhs.gov

FDA Assistant Commissioner for Women’s Health – Marsha Hendersen

• 301 796-9440
• Assistant Commissioner for Women’s Health
• FDA
• 10903 New Hampshire Avenue
• W.O.32-2333
• Silver Spring, MD 20993

sandilee

While I completely agree that the insurance companies should pay for these treatments, I also believe that the charge of 15K a month is outrageous. How do drug makers get away with this kind of robbery?  I tend to believe that the reason that the FDA won't approve it is because of cost.

   I would be writing to the manufacturer to come up with some kind of reasonable rate that the family could afford.  Are there not special circumstances for compassionate use?  I put the fault as much with the drug company as with the insurance company.  How do they justify 15,000 for one dose?  This is a big part of the problem.

Moderators

Good point, sandilee. Many of the pharmaceutical companies, including the makers of Avastin, have medicine assistance programs to help with the high costs of some cancer treatments. Read more about the programs to assist in the Paying for Your Care section of the main Breastcancer.org site.

• The Mods