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New drug to save vision to be covered

Pharmacare will pay for costly shot

By: Bruce Owen

Posted: 02/26/2010 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

The province is close to including Lucentis -- a relatively new drug that stops vision loss caused by macular degeneration -- under its pharmacare program, a government spokesman says.Inclusion of the drug, which is injected into the eye, is a godsend for people with the debilitating disease as it costs about $1,000 for each injection.

"Without this treatment many people are going to go blind," said Dean Cousens, formerly of the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, who now heads up the Coalition For Lucentis Equality in Manitoba.

The spokesman said the province plans to announce coverage of Lucentis in the coming weeks to take effect in the late spring.

Elections Manitoba forbids the province from making funding or other announcements during a byelection. Voting day in the Concordia byelection, to replace former premier Gary Doer, is March 2.

Cousens said seven out of 10 provinces already cover Lucentis and it appears Manitoba is lagging behind.

He said that delay causes undue suffering to people with macular degeneration, some of whom must decide whether to go blind or broke because of the cost of the drug.

"As far as I'm concerned if one person goes blind that's one person too many," Cousens said. "It's an injustice. It's treating people like second-class citizens."

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is becoming more common as the population gets older. It destroys the macula, a tiny spot in the retina responsible for central vision.

AMD is the leading cause of blindness for people over 50 and affects more people than cataracts and glaucoma combined. Close to 30,000 Canadians will develop this condition in 2009 and by age 75 one in three North Americans has early signs of ADM.

There are two types of macular degeneration:

"ö The common "dry" type of AMD affects 90 per cent of patients. Vision is decreased due to the appearance of small yellow deposits that cause thinning and dryness of the macula, a tiny spot that allows you to look someone straight in the eye.

"ö The "wet" type, the most serious, strikes 10 per cent of those with this disease. In this case, abnormal blood vessels grow under the macula. This growth pushes the macula from its normal position, distorting and eventually destroying central vision.

Lucentis has been shown to stop vision loss in 90 per cent of cases. Up to 40 per cent of patients had an improvement in vision of 20/40 or better, which is greater than the level required to drive.

Manitoba Liberal Leader Jon Gerrard, who's pressured the government to list Lucentis under pharmacare, said the province has no excuse for not already covering it.

"It should have been done three years ago," he said.

Gerrard's father, John, lost his vision to AMD before Lucentis was available.

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 26, 2010 A8

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