PLEASE SIGN THE CHANGE.ORG PETITION - BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB: HELP SAVE OUR DAD, which states:
Time is running out. Our family has no other hope. Without this treatment we will lose our dad.
A new drug, BMS-936558, manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb, similar to an earlier immunotherapy treatment our dad, Darcy, received ipilimumab (Yervoy®), produced a fantastic response increasing his life by years. Bristol-Myers Squibb is refusing access to the new drug, the one that his doctor says could save his life.
If BMS would just grant us compassionate access to this drug as they have done before, our family could have more precious time together.
To help our dad, Darcy, get access to this new drug, please visit www.facebook.com/HelpSaveDarcyNow or sign this online petition and contact Bristol-Myers Squibb at 800-332-2056. #helpsavedarcy
Darcy Doherty, a 48 year old father of three, is seeking compassionate access to a new cancer treatment in a desperate attempt to extend his life. The experimental drug, BMS-936558, is in Phase 1 clinical trails at research locations in Canada and the U.S.A. In April, Doherty was excluded from one because of new marginal cancer growth in his brain.
“Darcy has led a brave and heroic struggle against this disease for the past five years,” explains his wife, Rebecca Cumming. “And now, the kids and I are devastated that a promising drug is out there and proving successful in patients with Darcy’s diagnosis, yet we can’t get to it.”
Doherty’s oncologist, Dr. David Hogg, Attending Physician at Princess Margaret Hospital and Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto, believes that his patient can benefit from this new treatment. “Mr. Doherty had a fantastic response to the then-experimental immunotherapy drug, ipilimumab (Yervoy®), in 2007. That drug has given him four years of life, and I believe that he may experience a similar benefit from BMS-936558.”
The manufacturer of Yervoy, Bristol-Myers Squibb whose Canadian head office is in Montréal, also produces this new drug. The company has repeatedly blocked Cumming’s appeals for access over the past weeks explaining that it does not have a compassionate use program.
“I respect the company’s trial criteria,” Cumming states, “but cannot accept that we are not able to get compassionate access to this potentially life-saving drug. We’ve all come so far and worked too hard to be prevented from this new treatment.”
In Canada, patients with serious or life-threatening conditions can access experimental drugs on a compassionate basis before they are approved by the government. Health Canada’s Special Access Program allows a physician to administer trial drugs when conventional therapies have failed, are unsuitable or not available.
Dr. Michael Giordano, Head of Development, Oncology and Immunosciences at Bristol-Myers Squibb explains his company’s position. “We strive to develop promising drugs as quickly as feasible while remaining mindful of protecting patient safety. [This drug] currently does not have an established benefit/risk profile, given [its] limited experience in humans. We are not in a position to allow [its] use outside of a highly controlled trial.”
For a devastated and discouraged Cumming, “it doesn't add up. Darcy has absolutely nothing to lose.” Given his previous success with immunotherapy she declares, “We see no risks at this point; without this drug he will die.”
Allow me to say this again - PLEASE SIGN THE CHANGE.ORG PETITION - BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB: HELP SAVE OUR DAD
Facebook: Help Save Darcy
Twitter Tag: #helpsavedarcy
Contact Bristol-Myers Squibb -
Twitter: @bmsnews
E-Mail: Contact Page
Telephone: 800-332-2056
From Global Toronto:
"If they could just give us that drug... I'd be really happy... I'd be forever thankful," Doherty's son tearfully said.
"All we need is one break, one break could change everything and that's what I'm really praying for right now."
Doherty says he just wants to spend more time with his family. "To the point where there's a cure, or even not a cure, to the point where there's just buying the five-year allotments or whatever you can get gets you to the next drug or the next therapy, there's still hope."
"I'd like one more chance."
Further,
as the Globe and Mail recently observed:
Tania Stafinski, director of the health technology and policy unity at the University of Alberta’s school of public health, says there appears to be enough safety data to justify its use in Mr. Doherty’s situation.
Udo Schüklenk, Ontario research chair in bioethics at Queen’s University, is more pointed. “In such cases of catastrophic disease, if you have competent patients, if they want to roll the dice one last time, how dare society say, ‘We don’t care, we have our procedures in place,’” he says.
More Information -
Toronto Star: Dying man fights to get experimental drug from Bristol-Myers Squibb
The Globe and Mail: In one man's fight against cancer, safety trumps hope
Globe and Mail Editorial: Terminally ill patients should have access to last-chance therapies
Global Toronto: Cancer-stricken Toronto dad fights to use experimental drug
Huffington Post: Toronto Father Seeks Access To Experimental Cancer Drug
Business Week: Bristol Immune Drug Success in Cancer May Spur Industry Race
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: New Immune Therapy Shows Promise In Kidney Cancer - Agent benefits melanoma and lung cancer as well
.