When Barbara Wagner's lung cancer returned, the Oregon woman was prescribed a chemotherapy drug, Tarceva, that could lengthen her life and provide comfort. Then, she was notified that the Oregon Health Plan wouldn't cover the cancer drug, but would cover palliative (comfort) care, including a doctor-assisted suicide.
“Treatment of advanced cancer that is meant to prolong life, or change the course of this disease, is not a covered benefit of the Oregon Health Plan,” said the unsigned letter Wagner received from LIPA, the Eugene company that administers the Oregon Health Plan in Lane County.
Ms. Wagner isn't the first Oregon cancer patient to be offered a doctor-assisted suicide in place of treatment. Randy Stroup, who has prostate cancer, applied to the Oregon Health Plan for assistance and was told the Plan wouldn't cover chemo, but would cover a physician-assisted suicide. Randy fought back by appealing the Plan's decision and won. His chemotherapy is now being covered, and he hopes to gain more time with his five grandchildren than he would have had without chemo.
For Barbara Wagner, too, there is something of a happy ending: The pharmaceutical company making Tarceva agreed to donate a year's supply of the expensive drug, and to consider providing further medication free of charge if she is still living and wishes to continue taking Tarceva in a year's time.
However, for other patients with advanced cancer, there may be few options. The Oregon Health Plan will not cover chemotherapy unless there is a better than 5% chance it will help patients live for five more years. Patients who don't meet that standard get a letter denying coverage for chemo and suggesting comfort care, including pain relief and, potentially, doctor assisted suicide.
