kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt
After spending his life teaching, Woodbrook pensioner David Lewis is now worried about his fate, as public hospitals are out of the much-needed chemotherapy drug Xeloda.
With Senior Citizen Pension at $3,500, Lewis says it would cost him $4,000 for a regimen of tablets for just one of three sessions.
It is a cost Pharmacy Board president Andrew Rahaman says is too costly for patients, so pharmacies do not usually stock it.
Rahaman recalled that a box in 2018 cost $3,280 and estimated it would be a bit higher now in 2022.
Xeloda is the brand name for the drug, Capecitabine—a chemotherapy medication used to treat breast cancer, gastric cancer and colon cancer.
Doctors diagnosed Lewis, 69, with colon cancer, which typically affects older adults. Having undergone surgery last year, he began chemotherapy at the St James Medical Complex at three-week intervals. During those clinic days, patients like Lewis would get an intravenous drug followed by a prescription for Xeloda.
But six weeks ago, his doctor presented a problem.
“I thought he sounded the alarm on my fate,” Lewis said.
The medical complex was out of Xeloda and could also not give him the intravenous treatment. The solution was to take a prescription to the San Fernando General Hospital or Arima Hospital.
As a native of San Fernando, he indicated that he preferred to go to the southern city and asked what time the dispensary opened. Not knowing, the doctor called the dispensary and learned there was none there.
“He (the doctor) found out that not only did San Fernando and St James not have Xeloda, but Sangre Grande as well. In fact, at C40 in Chaguaramas, there was none either.”
The other option was to get an order to take to the distributor to purchase the drug. But with 84 tablets needed, Lewis could not afford it. Since then, he has not had a chemotherapy session, and he said it was a problem for the cancer patients in his clinic and others at public hospitals.
“No, because there is none (chemo session) and I cannot afford to buy these things. But I want to emphasise it is not just me. Most of the people I see there, except for a few children, are older, and some are older than I am.”
With the treatment for a sustained period ahead, he fears his condition will worsen.
Rahaman said the distributor, Smith Robertson, had a stock of Xeloda but the issue is that it is unaffordable to most people. Rahaman said he was able to get a supply for a few customers recently who reached out to him.
“It has been scarce in the private sector, but that was more than two weeks now. I assumed that by now, they may have gotten it back. Maybe not,” Rahaman said.
He said pharmacies might provide the drug now but might wait until a customer requests it and get it from the supplier.
Guardian Media called Smith Robertson to ask whether the company has a stock of the drug but could not get through to customer service.
Guardian Media also called Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh, whose staff answered and said they were working on a response. Up to Monday evening there was no response.
