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Generic Medicine

In: Business and Management

Submitted By sanatshah
Words 277
Pages 2
Lynn Divers thought she had heard the worst of it when doctors told her that her daughter Alyssa had cancer. But the diagnosis was only the first in a series of emotional bombshells: Alyssa’s cancer, osteosarcoma, is rare, and in her case, aggressive, requiring a cocktail of different chemotherapy drugs. She didn’t respond well to the first regimen that doctors tried, which led to their adding three other punishing medications to her treatment. Because of the chemotherapy, Alyssa’s kidneys were in danger of failing, so she would need nightly infusions of phosphorous to keep her organs functioning.

Then came the truly heartbreaking news. In late February, when Divers called the hospital to confirm Alyssa’s upcoming chemotherapy treatment, the nurse informed her that there was a drug shortage. The hospital couldn’t be sure that there would be enough methotrexate — the cornerstone of therapy for some childhood cancers, including leukemia and osteosarcoma — to treat Alyssa, now 10. Divers was told she might have to reschedule the session; the hospital would let her know. “It made me sick to my stomach to hear that,” says Divers, a former chaplain from Palmyra, Va. “Alyssa was in treatment for over a year already, and the last thing you want to do is add unnecessary delays in treatment, which gives the cancer a chance to catch up.”

Divers explains that her daughter’s cancer doubles in tumor load every 34 days, “so you need to hit it again and again to eradicate it.”

The story was much the same for Rebecca Robinson, 37, a historical interpreter from Sturbridge

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