Newport family plead for breakthrough cancer drug

Ciara Galvin

THE family of a 73-year-old woman with Stage 4 cancer is pleading with the Minister for Health Simon Harris to make a breakthrough cancer therapy available.
Bridie O’Haire from Fahy Beg, Newport, was diagnosed with stomach and liver cancer on May 2 this year and has since undergone three rounds of gruelling chemotherapy.
Mrs O’Haire has stopped the treatment, as she finds it severely debilitating and has no quality of life.
Now, her family are appealing to the Minister for Health to make cancer drug Pembrolizumab available to their mother. The dose helps the immune system detect and fight cancer cells. The revolutionary drug costs €5,000 per dose. If it was made available to Mrs O’Haire she would have to take a dose once every three weeks indefinitely. Speaking to The Mayo News, her daughter Breege Birrane said the family have contacted UK company Oncologica and had a test carried out for this immunotherapy drug with results showing that Mrs O’Haire would react positively to the drug.
The family have written to local representatives, along with Minister Harris and An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
Though the minister replied saying the drug was not tested on Mrs O’Haire’s cancer type, and that there is no proof that it would work, Oncology Consultant Dr David Fennelly has advised the family that this drug would be suitable and said she would have a better quality of life.
“I’m not saying it’s a cure but this will definitely help her have a better quality of life,” said Breege.
“She’s taken a break from chemo and she’s in good form, but there’s no cure for this. Chemo will give her more time but it won’t give her quality of life.”

‘Our whole world fell apart’
Ms Birrane said her mother is not the type for a sedentary life and is always active, going to cards and bingo and not one for sitting in the house.
Following a scan in June the family were pleased that the cancer had reduced. The chemotherapy had achieved what they had hoped, but the treatment stole their mother.
“She wasn’t herself … she was out of it and sleeping most of the time and lost a lot of weight.”
She added, “It was desperate to see her housebound. Our whole world fell apart. To watch her get so sick… we have to hope and pray something will be done for us. All he [Simon Harris] has to do is sign a piece of paper.”
“It’s awful that it’s available to some people but not for everybody, we’re just fighting to see is there anyway we can get it covered. We probably could pay for a certain amount of it, but indefinitely you’re not going to be able to keep that going,” explained Breege.
She went on to explain that it is especially hard for the family because they know the drug would work.
Dr Fennelly has previously been quoted as saying the drug is ‘cost effective’ as patients are first tested to determine their potential response, like Mrs O’Haire has completed.
“We have to keep fighting for this, the way we’re thinking is that if Mam doesn’t get it then at least somebody will if we keep fighting for it, maybe someone young who has their whole life in front of them, with young kids’.
For now the O’Haire family are hoping that Bridie gets accepted onto a clinical trial, and they plan to keep applying political pressure.
“We’re going to keep fighting for it, we’re not going to give up,” concluded Ms Birrane.