Lebanese Ministry of Health Disregards Ovarian Cancer Patients

With the financial crisis and the deterioration of the lira's value against the dollar, the crisis of cancer medications has become harder than the disease itself. Today, as the Ministry of Health enters a new phase in handling the medication file where no medicines are available outside currently applicable medical protocols, a group of patients has found themselves facing the impossibility of obtaining their medications, including a significant number of ovarian cancer patients. Their treatment relies on the expensive drug "lynparza," which falls under modern therapies that extend patients' lives. Before the crisis, obtaining this treatment was not impossible. Despite its high price (exceeding $6,000, priced at 264 million lira according to the Ministry of Health's drug lists), patients could previously buy it by paying part of its price and submitting a social assistance request to the Ministry, which would cover the remaining amount, with aid sometimes reaching up to 100 percent. However, following the crisis, the ministry implemented a series of measures to limit expenses, including the cancellation of "purchase permits." The error here is that this drug is "essential for treating a large number of ovarian cancer patients, yet the state has not proposed alternatives to cover this shortage," according to Hani Nassar, president of the "Barbara Nassar Association for Cancer Patient Support." He explained that "out of 35 young women the association follows, 20 of them were being treated with this drug and can no longer afford it today." He noted that according to medical protocols, the drug lists include medicines that extend patients' lives and improve their quality of life (provided that they extend life by more than six months); however, this drug was not counted among them "despite the fact that it extends the patient's life by over five years," as the ministry relied on "financial calculations without considering the priority of patients' lives." However, ministry sources viewed the situation as "logical" due to the crisis leaving limited options, indicating that lynparza "was not registered among the drugs procured by the ministry but was obtained through what are known as purchase permits, which are no longer allowed due to the crisis and also due to public procurement law." They emphasized that "every medication has alternatives, and although this drug is a modern treatment, that does not mean it cannot be replaced by another treatment available on the ministry's lists and within the framework of applicable medical protocols." Nevertheless, they do not deny that many patients, even within the ministry, have raised questions about the criteria used to assess patients' files and medications, which remains a topic of debate even among members of the medical committee tasked with reviewing patients' files, noting that part of this decision relates to "the minister's directives."