A couple from Saint-Félicien whose wife suffers from lung cancer deplores the fact that she has been refused experimental treatment because they live in the region.
Diane Roy, 63, would have only one to three months to live, unless an innovative treatment can change her fate.
“If we don’t have that…, confides sadly her spouse Jean-Marc Vallée, alluding to the drug being tested. This is our last resort!”
Mr. Vallée is especially shocked by the reasons given for refusing Ms. Roy to benefit from the treatment. “They say it’s reserved for patients from Montreal,” he said.
Diane Roy was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020. In early 2022, her treating oncologist submitted a request on the patient’s behalf for access to the trial drug: PCLX-001. In Quebec, clinical trials are managed by the Center hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM).
Last July, the oncologist sent a new request for his patient, only to be refused a second time.
“It was the same reason: it’s for people from Montreal, there is no room for people from the regions,” repeated Mr. Vallée, according to what he learned from the doctor’s explanations.
“We would have preferred them to look at the file, to give us more in-depth explanations. We would have taken accommodation in Montreal if necessary. That wasn’t the pitfall.”
In a written statement in the followingnoon, the CIUSSS du Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean explained that “access to this research is restricted by specific criteria and a number of eligible patients. Outside of this research protocol, it is not possible to have access to this drug.”
Mr. Vallée would have liked the chance to address the Minister of Health. “I would ask him several questions. It is not because we come from the regions that we are not entitled to the same care as the others. I don’t find that correct. If we don’t try anything, we won’t get anything,” he said.
The CHUM should react later this week.
