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INSURING COVERAGE FOR CANCER PATIENTS |
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Gov. Davis signs clinical trials bill
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Gov. Gray Davis (right) chatted with (left to right) Dean of the School of Medicine Gerald Levey and Chancellor Albert Carnesale, while Assistant Vice Chancellor of Government and Community Relations Keith Parker looked on. Davis was on campus to sign legislation insuring financial coverage of cancer patients in clinical trials. |
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BY CYNTHIA LEE
UCLA Today Staff
Gov. Gray Davis signed landmark legislation Aug. 9 at UCLA that will provide cancer patients with financial coverage by their insurer of routine costs associated with all four phases of a clinical trial.
The ceremony took place before a gathering of dignitaries that included Chancellor Albert Carnesale, Dean of the School of Medicine and Provost of Medical Sciences Gerald Levey, Vice Provosts Michael Karpf and Alan Robinson, cancer survivors and representatives of cancer advocacy groups and HMOs.
Davis called SB 37, authored by State Sen. Jackie Speier (D-Hillsborough) and supported by the University of California, "the most sweeping bill of its kind in America" before signing it in the courtyard of the MacDonald Medical Research Labs.
The new law requires that insurers cover routine patient costs associated with a clinical trial upon referral by a physician, who must find that the patient's health would potentially benefit from the trial.
"The last best hope for cancer treatments is clinical trials," Davis said. The new law opens access to these trials to thousands more patients.
Davis also signed AB 430, authored by Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar), which takes advantage of a new federal law that provides two-thirds federal funding for the treatment of eligible patients with breast and cervical cancer.
Representatives of the UCLA Medical Center heralded SB 37.
Last year, about 5,000 patients were enrolled in clinical trials through UCLA's Jonsson Cancer Center. Currently, more than 200 trials are under way.
"Without patients enrolling in clinical trials in greater numbers than we have now, advances in cancer will be slowed," said Judith C. Gasson, director of the center. "With this new law, cost need not be a barrier any longer for those patients willing to try experimental treatments." |
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