Would love your input on clinical trials

At this point, I believe the drug company is now paying… But who knows? If the insurance co. has to pay for scans, etc., I’m hoping its no longer a problem. Of course, the company I used to work for is shopping out the insurance coverage, so I sure hope it’s still Aetna. Not that I like Aetna, but I’ve been through all the BS with them to get stuff covered. The paperwork is kind of unclear: I’m sure Eli Lilly is paying for the drug, pretty sure they are covering all the blood work… And I was told they were paying for everything, but I’m not sure after reading the paperwork. It does NOT say they are paying for the scans every 2 months.

And, yes, Marion, I agree. I believe the trial drug is going to work. I believe it will shrink and hopefully eradicate the cancer. But, failing that, I will settle for “stable”!

Marion: I wish I was farther along in the trial I am participating in. So far, I had trouble getting approval for Fox Chase itself for testing, since my “preferred” (not my preferred, but the insurance co) hospital is right here… Finally got approval. As far as I know, the drug co. is paying for the trial… I guess I will find out, but not until mid June. Getting approval was tough. I got my case manager involved and she went to one of the top doc guys who has been an onc and understands the problems with getting the correct care. He overrode the denial. Hopefully I don’t have to go through that again.
And 7 days in I have no side effects. Unfortunately, I won’t know how well it’s working until mid June.
My new onc suggested the trial to me. It is aimed at patients (15 of them cc) that have had the approved treatment plans, with either no success or who had to stop because of side effects. Since I fit the criteria, I’m in. She spent quite some time explaining to me. The woman running the trial also went over the “rules and regs” of the trial.
It will continue (as I understand) as long as it works for me with no major side effects or damage to other bodily functions. As long as the cancer cells either shrink or stay stable, I can continue the trial. At least that’s how I understand it.

Is this what you wanted?

Hi Marion,

Many thanks for this and I look forward to hearing how it all goes. I saw this here on the news yesterday and although not CC related I thought it could be relevant and something that may be of interest to you for this meeting.

Basically it concerns age restrictions for access to clinical trials and a teenage girl was refused access to a trial here in the UK before she turned 18. She was admitted to the trial when she turned 18 but was refused access to it by the company running the trial.

“Her family says she was told last September, when she was 17, that she was too young to take part, and that her participation could “jeopardise [her] safety and the integrity of the trial data”.”

http://news.sky.com/story/1083643/mums-plea-after-teen-was-denied-cancer-drugs

As I said, not CC related and perhaps something that may not be of use for you here but thought I would mention it in case it was.

Hugs,

Gavin