This Ontario man won a court case for Stage 4 cancer treatment in the U.S. Then the province changed the rules
Alex Shved took the province to court after OHIP rejected his oncologist's request to receive urgent treatment in the U.S. Despite the court win, he says the province has effectively blocked access to pubic funding for out-of-country drug treatments.
Ontario has tightened rules governing out-of-country drug funding following a court victory for a cancer patient. Alex Shved, a 37-year-old man with Stage 4 melanoma, challenged Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) rejections of his request for tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte therapy in Florida. OHIP had denied his request, citing the therapy's pending public funding review in Ontario.
A Divisional Court ruled OHIP lacked justification for this stance, ordering a reassessment. However, OHIP has now rejected Shved's request for the third time. Health Minister Sylvia Jones announced the province would amend regulations to fund drugs out of country only if they are already covered within Ontario but access is delayed. The government is also exploring a resolution for Shved's specific case.
Written by urgent.news from Winnipeg Free Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
This story
This is one outlet's version. Read the fullest account.
- Ontario narrows out-of-country drug funding rules after cancer patient court victory winnipegfreepress.com
- Ontario narrows out-of-country drug funding rules after cancer patient court victory globalnews.ca
- This Ontario man won a court case for Stage 4 cancer treatment in the U.S. Then the province changed the rules cbc.ca
