Canadian Cancer Society urges Ontario to cover cost of take-home medication – CTV
Feb. 28, 2024
Kirsten Watson was weeks away last year from losing access to potentially life-saving medication — a situation she found herself in because Ontario does not cover the cost of take-home cancer drugs.
The 43-year-old is on medication to help prevent a recurrence of breast cancer after being diagnosed in 2020. She lost her job last year due to downsizing at her company. Along with her income, she stood to lose coverage through her employer’s benefits for the $7,000 worth of medication a month her oncologist has prescribed.
“To know that there’s this treatment that was so important to be on, and the stress of not being able to potentially have it, it’s near debilitating,” Watson said in an interview.
“So during a time when I should have been focusing on getting my resume scrubbed up to start applying for jobs and starting to think about finding other employment, I was instead stressing and burdened with how am I going to be able to continue my cancer treatment when I no longer have benefit coverage?”
