Nicole Miller of Redcliff has ulcerative colitis and fears the changes the UCP government is considering regarding drugs to treat the condition could jeopardize her health and that of many others.--NEWS PHOTO GILLIAN SLADE
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade
It took years to stabilize her health and symptoms from ulcerative colitis, making Nicole Miller particularly nervous about changes to medication Health Minister Tyler Shandro is contemplating.
“Going off something that works for you jeopardizes your health,” said Miller.
Steve Buick, press secretary for the minister, provided an emailed statement.
“Like other provinces and countries, we’re planning to increase use of lower-cost, clinically equivalent biosimilar to ensure our drug coverage is sustainable and ensure every patient gets safe and clinically appropriate therapy. In the past decade our spending on biologics has gone from around $20 million a year to over $200 million – this is unsustainable. ”
Buick says, “Health Canada has clearly stated that biosimilars and their reference biologic drugs are equivalent in terms of quality, safety and efficacy. We’ve reviewed all the options used in other jurisdictions to design our own approach.”
“The government should not have the right to tell me what I should have to do with my body,” said Miller, noting doctors have more knowledge about this than the health minister. “It should be a situation between me and my doctor.”
Dr. Remo Panaccione, an expert in irritable bowel disease at the University of Calgary, met with Shandro and has publicly stated there are about 2,300 Albertans currently taking biologics to treat Crohn’s. He said there is research to show that switching those drugs can be harmful.
Miller’s symptoms began in May 2013.
“Anything I ate went straight through me,” said Miller, whose body was not absorbing nutrition and she was experiencing drastic weight loss.
It took two years of trying various drugs to find one that worked. She’s been on Remicade, Humira and the one that worked and that she is still on is Entyvio. She says if this had not worked she would have faced having part of her bowel removed.
She says if you are taken off a drug like Entyvio and given a biosimilar that does not work you cannot then return to Entyvio.
Every eight weeks Miller receives Entyvio through an IV. She has private prescription coverage that pays 90 per cent of the cost. The 10 per cent she pays is $600 every eight weeks.
Miller says there are more than 25,000 people in Alberta with Crohn’s and colitis and there is the potential for so much to go wrong if the drugs are changed. Patients could end up needing surgery which Alberta Health will pay for and even after surgery the patients will still need medication. She suggests there will be lawsuits.
She agrees it would make sense for new patients to try biosimilar drugs first but not to switch the drugs for those who are currently stable on biologics.
Buick says the minister plans to announce a decision by the end of the year.
According to Hansard’s record in the legislature on Thursday last week, Shandro said he is still listening to “stakeholders, including patient groups, before we make those decisions.”
Meanwhile Crohn’s and Colitis Canada has an online petition.
“Tell your provincial government that you think patients shouldn’t be switched from their biologic to a biosimilar for non-medical reasons.”
http://action.crohnsandcolitis.ca/choice
