A mother dying of advanced breast cancer has been given a drug that has not yet been approved after she made an emotional YouTube plea.
Darlene Gant, 46, posted a video begging drug company Genentech to give her pertuzumab on compassionate grounds - and it has agreed.
It means that, although the FDA is not expected to approve the drug until June, she will get it as she has no other option.
Scroll down for video
Plea: In a YouTube video, cancer sufferer Darlene Gant begged the FDA and a drug company to give her access to a drug that has not yet been approved
Gant, from Tampa Bay, Florida, was diagnosed with cancer six years ago and explains in the video that she is in the final stages of her illness.
She speaks about the torture it inflicts on her life as she fills out future birthday, prom and wedding cards for her 11-year-old son, Cameron.
Speaking from her bed, she explains that her cancer has spread to her bones and engulfed her liver, so she does not expect to live until the drug is officially released.
She says: 'In the meantime, no one is eligible for compassionate use, including me, so, although I don't put everything into pertuzumab, it could stabilize me and help save my life and extend my time here on the earth with my 11-year-old son and my family.'
Happier times: In the video Gant, 46, writes future birthday, prom and wedding cards for her 11-year-old son Cameron, who she will not see to grow up
Fears: Gant, who has months to live, will also leave behind her husband Brian
Gant initially blamed the FDA for prohibiting the drug, before realising it was drug company Genentech Inc. that had refused to give it to her.
She said relatives had sent several requests to the company to obtain the drug before the approval date, but it had refused.
In the video, she begs viewers to write to Genentech to ask for her to use the drug on compassionate grounds.
Within 24 hours, more than 1,000 people had clicked on the video, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Now more than 7,000 have seen it.
Genentech spokeswoman Krysta Pellegrino said the company became aware of the video on Thursday.
Desperate: Gant sobs as she reads a card written to her son. She will now receive pertuzumab after drug company Genentech heard about the video
'That brought her to our attention,' Pellegrino said. 'There is definitely an increased awareness. We understand the urgency of her situation.'
The company agreed to provide the drug to Gant under compassionate use, aware it was her last option.
Oncologist Dr. Hatem Soliman told the Times the drug is promising for a group of patients who have breast cancer that has spread to other organs.
But Soliman said it was 'more effective than anything else we have now' but not a cure.
The treatment, which costs tens of thousands of dollars per person, could add up to a year to a life but does not work for every patient.
Art Caplan, professor of ethics at University of Pennsylvania, told ABC that the drug companies need to be careful about drugs not yet approved.
Headquarters: Genentech said it will give her the drug, which has not yet been officially approved by the FDA, on compassionate grounds as it is a last resort
'Drug companies don't want a death attributed to their new drug,' he said.
'They may not have any idea how much drug to use and they often have a very limited supply on hand, which they hope to use in testing the drug not for one person's last desperate gasp at a bit more life.'
Patients must have a life-threatening condition to be given unapproved FDA drugs that are still in trials.
Gant said she is 'excited' to begin taking the drug in one to two weeks. 'I really hope this opens up a dialogue about compassionate use for people with cancer,' she told ABC.
'I'm not afraid to die, but I couldn't do it without one last fight. I'm a fighter and an advocate.'
See below for video
Read more:
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2134536/Darlene-Gant-Drug-company-Genentech-gives-dying-mom-cancer-drug-makes-pleading-video-YouTube.html#ixzz1szQpWdCF
0 comments:
Post a Comment