As Martin Johnston reported this week in the Herald's "Cancer: The cost of a life" series, more and more cancer patients have resorted to desperate measures like clearing their superannuation funds because Pharmac does not fund the lifesaving drugs they need.
These unfunded drugs include:
-Kadcyla, a breast cancer drug that is Government-funded in Australia and could cost more than $100,000.
-Dabrafenib, used for melanoma and was rejected by Pharmac in 2013.
-Keytruda, a drug considered the greatest cancer breakthrough since chemotherapy, which costs roughly $300,000 for two years of treatment.
Some have suggested that in order to get these drugs funded, it would require political intervention, similar to how breast cancer drug Herceptin received extended funding as part of National's campaign promise in 2008.
