Posted by Michael Wonder on 28 Jul 2019
Cancer patients to benefit from subsidies for new medicines
27 July 2019 - Patients will save tens of thousands of dollars a year on the cost of life saving cancer treatments after it was ruled they should be subsidised by the taxpayer.
The new subsidies were approved by an independent committee and Health Minister Greg Hunt will announce on Sunday the government will provide $56 million to fund them.
Avastin won’t cure the brain cancer known as recurrent and refractory glioblastoma (GBM) but it has been shown to buy patients three to four extra months of life.
Sydney father and investment banker Michael Clout has welcomed the new subsidy for the anti-leukaemia drug Sprycel which has so far extended his life by five years.
