Co-Pay Assistance

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society celebrates one year of giving through it's Co-Pay Assistance Program. The program is designed to help people diagnosed with a blood or lymphatic cancer  who already have prescription drug insurance meet the out-of-pocket expenses. The Society announced new higher income levels that qualify for assistance as well as higher $ amounts available for 2008. Find out more about the program and find an application here.

The Diabetes-Pancreatic Cancer Connection

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic have found that 40% of pancreatic cancer patients developed diabetes within two years before being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  Rather than the cancer being caused by the diabetes, they believe the diabetes is being caused by the cancer before the cancer is otherwise detectable. That's not to say if you develop diabetes that you are going to develop pancreatic cancer. The researchers caution that type-2 diabetes is much more common than pancreatic cancer-causing diabetes. While relatively rare, pancreatic cancer is usually diagnosed  at an advanced stage when a surgical cure is all but impossible. Getting an early heads-up gives hope ,down the road, to more surgical cures.  Read about the research here.

New Generic Kytril Approved

The anti-nausea drug Kytril can be pretty darn expensive ($90 or more  a day)  so the approval late last month of a generic version of the injectable and oral versions will be good news for patients.  The generics are manufactured by  several different companies. You can see the list here. 

Healthcare and Politics