Imagine you or a loved one has just been diagnosed with a potentially fatal disease.
Then imagine your amazement to learn that a new drug being touted as "revolutionary" and a "miracle cure" could eradicate that disease.
So far, so good.
But then your luck turns. You learn that unless you have access to a generous private health-care plan or someone in your family has deep pockets, you can't take the drug - because it costs $55,000 and is not covered by PharmaCare.
That's the situation facing 80,000 hepatitis C sufferers throughout B.C. Across Canada, the number climbs to 250,000.
Hepatitis C is a virus that attacks the liver. It can lead to cirrhosis, liver cancer and, ultimately, death.
Until recently, the only cure was a gruelling 47-week course of Interferon, with side effects described as worse than those caused by chemotherapy. Success rates were low.
The new drug, Sovaldi, is usually taken for just 12 weeks, and it eradicates the virus in up to 90 per cent of cases. Most people experience few side effects.
The B.C. government faces the choice of whether to fund the admittedly expensive drug, or to deny coverage to those without the financial means or the right private health-care plan (many won't cover the costs) to pay for it.
The compassionate case for funding this drug is easy to make: What if your mother, husband or child needed it?
But there's another case to be made, and it comes down to economics. By treating people before they need expensive hospital stays or a liver transplant, the health-care system saves money.
For that reason - and for the simple fact that Canada should not be a country where only the rich or the fortunate have access to life-saving medical care - we hope the B.C. government does the right thing and funds this drug.
