Vasculitis lobbyists want NHF drug coverage

Nedburn Thaffe, Gleaner Writer

A medical practitioner and members of the Ricardo Lee Vasculitis Foundation are lobbying for at least one of the drugs used to treat vasculitis to be included under the National Health Fund (NHF) benefit as patients reel out big bucks to purchase medication.

Vasculitis represents a family of rare diseases and can affect people of all ages. Conditions include inflammation of the blood vessels, arteries, veins or capillaries.

The most commonly used medications are prednisone, cyclopho-phamide, CellCept, methotrexate and azathiprine, said Dr Keisha Maloney, consultant physician and rheumatologist at the University Hospital of the West Indies.

However, the medication that is troubling to most patients is CellCept, which runs in the region of $90,000 and up for a monthly dosage, according to Maloney.

"CellCept is expensive ... . I am hoping that [it] will soon be covered under the NHF as it is beneficial not only in vasculitis but other autoimmune diseases including systemic lupus erythematosus with kidney involvement," she said.

Support

Similarly, founder and executive director of the foundation, Olive Creary, said patients who visited the foundation often complained about the enormous sums to purchase the drug. This has pushed the executive director to lobby for the medication to be included under the NHF benefits.

Emil Dean, who was diagnosed with the disease in 2007, lamented the cost of the medication, saying he has to be forking out thousands of dollars each month to purchase the medication.

"To spend this amount on drugs each month is not easy," he lamented.

The Ricardo Lee Vasculitis Foundation was named in honour of Ricardo Lee - son of Olive Creary - who died from complications associated with the disease in March 2008.