Manitoba man paying $28K a month wants province to cover brain cancer treatment

A Winnipeg man who’s paying $28,000 a month to use a device that has shrunk his aggressive brain tumour wants the provincial government to pick up the bill.

Chico Colosimo, who was diagnosed with glioblastoma last year, hopes to convince the government to fund the Optune Gio device before he runs out of money from a fundraiser and his family’s savings.

“It works,” Colosimo, 47, said on Wednesday. “My tumour has shrunk.”

“If it gets me another six months to a year of my life, I will take it. And the quality of life is significantly better. I can walk around with my wife and I can work in my yard. I couldn’t do that before I started this.”

The Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada says glioblastoma is the most common primary brain tumour in males that affects almost five out of 100,000 people.

Patients with Colosimo’s diagnosis are usually given six to 18 months to live.

A fundraising campaign launched by family friends has raised more than $164,000, but Colosimo’s wife, Shauna, said it won’t be long before the money runs out.

“My husband is now considering stopping treatment — not because it is not working, but because of the immense financial strain and the fear of the long-term financial impact on our family,” she said.

“No patient should be forced to make that decision.”

Shauna said the positive changes in his condition since he put on the device in December, have been miraculous.

“I know him because we’ve been together 27 years,” she said. “He was at the point where he couldn’t walk or understand simple directions. He went from not being able to communicate or walk to having 97 per cent of himself back. People who saw him in December are floored by the improvement”

She said most patients don’t use it because of the expense.

“We would have started using it once he was diagnosed if we had known.”

The device, which a patient wears on their head, uses electric fields to slow down or stop tumour growth.

It was developed by Novocure, a company founded in 2000 by Yoram Palti, a professor emeritus of physiology and biophysics at the Israel Institute of Technology, who had theorized electric fields could be used to treat tumours.

It was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States in 2011 and by Health Canada in 2022.

British Columbia, which started to cover the cost as of February, remains the only province to do so.

The couple has written to Manitoba’s health minister to ask for coverage. In response, Manitoba Health’s non-insured benefits branch told them their case is under review.

“As this technology is classified as a medical device, rather than a drug, any consideration of public funding requires careful assessment of clinical benefit, cost-effectiveness, and overall system affordability, as well as discussion with the manufacturer. At this time, no decisions have been made.”

In a statement, Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said the government recognizes the “significant emotional strain” on the couple.

“Other jurisdictions across the country, including Manitoba, are now working through similar review processes. We remain focused on making sure Manitobans have access to safe and effective care, while continuing to carefully evaluate new and emerging treatments as evidence evolves.”

Colosimo, the father of a 15-year-old boy and 12-year-old girl, was diagnosed on May 4, 2025.

A few weeks earlier, he had collapsed in his bathroom. He said he has no memory of even getting up that morning, and only remembers waking up in the hospital — nine or 10 days later.

The diagnosis was made after a biopsy was conducted.

He received surgery to reduce the size of the tumour, and endured radiation and chemotherapy treatments. However, the tumour continued to grow and the couple had no further options. Then they heard about the Optune Gio device.

“I didn’t even know about it and I work at CancerCare Manitoba,” Shauna said, adding it should be covered by the provincial health plan.

“It should never be if you don’t have the money, you don’t have the device.”

Colosimo said he is at peace knowing the device is extending his life. He hopes his experience can help others.

“If I can get four or five more months, that is something. And if I can get four months without having to spend it on a couch and can do things, or if I’m just helping others, I call that a win.”

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca