Troubleshooter

Fox 4 helps mother with brain cancer get chemo drug free of charge

Co-payment for Temodar increased 2000% this year

By Mike Mason

CREATED Jan. 23, 2013

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  • Life changing news for a Lee County woman battling brain cancer. After finding out her insurance will no longer cover the cost of the one drug keeping her alive, she turned to Four in your Corner for help. Troubleshooter Mike Mason has been working o Video by fox4now.com

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 LEE COUNTY - Life changing news for a Lee County woman battling brain cancer. After finding out her insurance will no longer cover the cost of the one drug keeping her alive, she turned to Four in your Corner for help. Troubleshooter Mike Mason has been working on this from the beginning and is live to show you how he got her the lifeline she do desperately needs.

 
A chemo drug that costs up to $800 per pill is the only medication that can cure this woman's cancer. At that price she almost gave up hope but her family then contacted Fox 4 and today her life took a dramatic turn.
 
When 33 year old Dawn Beagles battled brain cancer 10 years ago she was prescribed the chemo drug Temodar and it worked. But last October her cancer came back.   This time there was more at stake - Dawn now has a 7 year old son, Christopher.
 
Dawn Beagles: "It's a lot, it's a lot harder this time."
 
So Dawn prepared for battle once again. She began taking Temodar 3 times a day. At that time her copayment was only $30 a month. But on January 1st it jumped to $660 per month, a cost she couldn't afford. After exhausting all their efforts to find help, Dawn's family contacted Fox 4.
 
Ron Raines: "We went through channel 4, you guys wanted to hear about it you wanted to do the story."
 
After signing the required HIPAA forms, we began working on Dawn's case. During our research we found thousands of people nationwide struggling after their insurance companies suddenly raised their copayments for Temodar. After our first report, Todd Duffy contacted us.
 
Todd Duffy: "When I had seen the story and I talked to my father I said anything we can do to help her."
 
Todd's father, Michael, also has brain cancer and has been taking Temodar for 7 years. He gets the medication free of charge through a program set up by Merck, the company that manufactures Temodar.
So we contacted Merck and told them about Dawn's situation. Soon after, they agreed to pay for all of her medication.
 
Ron Raines: "She said Dawn has been approved, we just need to go through a few questions, she's eligible and we've made an exception in her case and you're on the program and here on out she will be covered for her medicine."
 
Dawn Beagles: "You came and things got resolved so it was really a good thing."
 
Now Dawn has the hope she needs to keep on fighting, not only for herself but her son as well.
 
Dawn Beagles: "I told him that I was sick and I had to go to a special doctor and that I'd be all better but I mean....
Mike Mason: "That's a big promise."
Dawn Beagles: "Yeah."
Merck's program provides Temodar to patients who qualify based upon their insurance and finances.
If you'd like to learn more about it just go to their website - it's ‘www.merckhelps.com’.