FDA Will Soon Disapprove Avastin for Breast Cancer Patients

The FDA is on the verge of disapproving the cancer drug Avastin for breast cancer patients. It’s too expensive, and they tell us that breast cancer is an “off label” use of the drug. If you’ve ever witnessed someone dying of cancer, you wouldn’t be worried about labels.

Listen to this story of one cancer survivor (thanks to Avastin) and her family. The video indicates that the FDA has until September 17 to make a decision, but the date has been pushed back to December 17.

The brave young man who made this video sent me an email asking me to write about this important issue. He has his mother, and he wants to see to it that many other children have their mothers for as long as they can. In September he wrote an op-ed that appeared in The Hill:

The decision had nothing to do with new safety risks. Avastin, like all powerful drugs, comes with a number of risks and side effects. But my mom and her doctor decided it was worth it. That decision has not changed.

Wyndham Wilson of the National Cancer Institute, who chaired the FDA’s advisory committee, summed up its findings by asking if small gains in progression-free survival are clinically meaningful. I would say yes.

One extra day with a cancer patient is invaluable. An extra week — or even months or years? That can mean my little sister’s first day of elementary school. It could mean my college graduation. It could mean celebrating her 30th wedding anniversary with my dad. It could mean watching the birth of her first grandchild.

If the FDA withdraws its approval of Avastin, insurance companies, Medicaid and Medicare will undoubtedly consider denying coverage for the medicine. The life of a cancer patient is already limited. The last thing any family needs is to spend their final hours with a loved one fighting with insurance companies.

What the FDA is doing is removing options for those whose options are few, because there could be side effects. Well, excuse me, but isn’t death the worst side effect of all? Leave it up to the patients to decide which side effects they’re willing to endure.

Avastin has been an effective treatment for some women with breast cancer. It should remain available as an option for all patients who can decide based on the advice of their physicians whether or not it’s right for them. Please consider signing the petition asking the FDA not to disapprove the use of Avastin for breast cancer. You never know, a life saved could be yours or one of your loved ones.

Tags: Avastin, ban, breast cancer, disapprove, drug, family, FDA, life, saved, video