With breast cancer and Hodgkin lymphoma drugs added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme Kennedy MP Bob Katter has asked the Health Minister to add other cancer fighting drugs. “If you do not have certain stages of melanoma or Hodgkin’s lymphoma, you still have to pay the exorbitant treatment fees for the drug ‘Keytruda’,” he said. Mr Katter urged Minister Hunt to address the additional cost, so cancer sufferers may have an affordable drug readily available and have more quality time to live.
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Mr Katter said survival was of course the ultimate aim of treatment, but progression free survival or slowing down the course of the disease is most important to increasing the quality of life for all cancer patients.
“The benefit of the drug Keytruda is that it works in conjunction with the immune system to fight cancers and has minimal side effects and is only prescribed when chemotherapy is not suitable,” he said.
Mr Katter wrote to Minister Hunt in February this year requesting that he add the life-saving breast cancer drugs Ribociclib and Palbocicilibto the PBS, to which the drugs were preliminarily listed in April.
“We are continually advised of the difficulties faced by cancer patients to afford the drugs for life saving cancer treatment and we thank the Minister for his efforts to date,” he said.
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
