Ontario coverage

Anonymous
December 9, 2007 at 11:21 am

Hi Rhonda and Sue
I am relatively new to this forum, but have learned a lot already from the knowledgeable members. I am replying because I live in Canada too.
Briefly, I noticed some numbness in my feet in about August 2006 when I was running. It got a lot worse late last year so I have been having tests at TGH neurology department (under Dr. Vera Bril). They diagnosed it as IgM MGUS and I started treatment with Rituxan, my first infusion last Friday.
Rituxan is very expensive, so I checked to see if it is covered by the medical plan where I work. No luck. Same with the Ontario Ministry of Health. So I wrote them back in early October to ask why it is not covered, after paying into the system most of my life. So far…no reply.
I intend to never give up on this. If the drug works, as I fully hope and anticipate it will, then there should be all the more reason to cover it.
I’ll keep you posted on the progress with bureaucracy.
Best of luck to you both
Andrew