RE: HELP GETTING TARCEVA FOR FREE AND ASAP
My mom has NSCLC IV diagnosed 13 months ago. It has spread to bone, thyroid & liver. She had carboplatin/taxotere chemo for 6 months, then gemzar for 4 months. Gemzar did not work and so the doc put my mom on Tarceva. We just got the meds delivered today.
On May 23 she was given only 2 months to live, and the Tarceva was prescribed then. We have had numerous hurdles in getting this drug. If you need assistance paying for it, call Genentech and they will refer you to a charity that can help. That means that the people from the charity will call you and send you an application packet that you fill out with insurance info, bank statement, etc. We sent it back and rec'd a decision right away and were approved for $10K per year. The charity name is Cancer Care.
Here's the catch... don't try to get the drug through your local pharmacy. We did and that's why it took so long. The way Cancer Care pays for the drugs is the old-fashioned way: by check in the mail. There are virtually NO local pharmacies (even national chains) that will accept this type of "third party billing." The Cancer Care rep will ask you about the pharmacy you use, so just tell them to use whatever pharmacy they can process it through. Apparently Walmart's mail order (called Walmart Specialty Pharmacy) is on board with this program. Once they get the Rx faxed to them, they process it and overnight the drugs at no cost to you. The charity picks up the entire tab. The first month's supply would've cost my mom $2802.00 and the next dose will cost her $3500 because this drug put her in her "gap" with the AARP Prescription plan. So we have gone 3 weeks trying to get this done. So I really, really hope this helps someone else avoid the pitfalls of working to get these meds as fast as possible.
Also, WM pharmacy called me about 15 mins after the drug arrived to confirm that it was rec'd and to go over my mom's medical history. It was a nurse who called and she was quite knowledgeable and friendly. If she didnt' know an answer to my question, she put me on hold while she consulted a pharmacist to get the answer. I listed mom's conditions, medications, and answered lots of questions. It took about 10 mins total. Then about 30 mins later the nurse called me back and told me they'd identified a possible interaction problem with Tarceva and one of mom's other drugs (coumadin). I was impressed and appreciated how this was handled. I now have a call into the doc's office to see if that is really going to be a problem.
I will post again on progress, etc. Many people plan to post updates but then it just doesn't happen. I have gotten so much from all the personal stories (and questions) that I will make my best effort to contribute in any way I can.
Thank you all for the useful info that is so hard to find!