drugs are usually > major surgery

Catherine Brunelle, who blogs at Bumpyboobs.ca shared the story of what happened when she was diagonosed with metastatic breast cancer in Ontario:

"I would be put (back) on Zoladex, I was told, which is a drug that puts your ovaries to sleep. Zoladex isnot covered by OHIP. The oncologist wasn’t sure if it would help, but he figured we should try that first and foremost before doing anything else. Except. . . except that monthly shot costs about 500 bucks a pop. Or I could pay 1500 a go and get the three month shot.
But insurance would pay for it.
Right?
…
Oh wait, you don’t have insurance? Well then, you need to have your ovaries removed via surgery.
!!
That is seriously what I was told. And if this post seems a bit fragmented in pace, it’s because to this day I’m stupefied by the solution to my struggling to afford medication – cut out perfectly healthy pieces of my body, despite there being an effective pill that could do the same thing minus the traumatic surgery."

This is mind-boggling. Being submitted to unnecessary surgery at a much higher cost to the system than covering the drug would have been. And at a much greater risk to the patient. 

Ultimately, Catherine was able to qualify for Trillium but with a significant deductible - one she would never have had to pay if she opted for surgery or another kind of treatment.

Catherine supports the campaign at FairCancerCare.ca. She's signed our petition and is now helping to spread the word.

Will you join us?

P.S.: Catherine is also a novelist. I've read her book and it's lovely. You should check that out, too.