RL

Her pharmacist applied for Pfizer’s financial assistance program for cash paying customers. They denied her because her household income is slightly over their cut off. Which is ridiculous because these drugs cost about $25k per month. I wonder if the copay assistance program would work since her insurance has completely denied coverage of these drugs because they’re for BRAF V600 and not FDA approved for BRAF G469A.

Thanks, Ed! I let my mom know that people have had good experiences with Dr. Weber. I wonder if he will do telehealth appointments with patients in other states as travelling to NY is pretty big trip for her, especially with the pandemic.

Hi Ed, She was not yet stage 4 when undergoing Opdivo, but she did have a recurrence of melanoma post-surgery while going through Opdivo treatment. My mom has pre-existing GI issues that caused severe complications while in treatment and even for 6 months after treatment. It also caused her pancreas to atrophy. Her oncologist is at Emory.

Thank you, Celeste! You are so kind. I’ve sent your list of doctors to my mom so she can get a 2nd opinion. She’s seeing a melanoma specialist at Emory, but I still would feel much better with a 2nd or 3rd opinion.