Looking for info on Abilify...

[newbiejulie]

Hi...I am new to this site and to posting questions in general, so hope I am doing this right

I am desperate for some information. My mother has suffered depression her entire life...the older she has gotten the more severe. She is on a permanent disability (has been for years and years) due to her mental health, and does not leave her home much. She is only 56 years young!

Her new psychiatrist recently sent her home with a sample pack good for a month of Abilify, which as most of you would know, is only available in the USA. After 20 years of suffering, she finally was put on seomthing that WORKED! It was night and day...no more negative voices, happy, energy back...felt "normal". She went to the doctor for more and he advised her that he is out of samples and not sure if he can get more!

She is back to being severly depressed and even more so as realized that there was help out there after all!! My question is, has anyone experienced this and does anyone have info on when and if this drug will be available in Canada? Her drug plan won't cover this drug, nor will Trillium that we can find out. I looked into purchasing privately and is about $1000.00 per month!!!!!

Can anyone offer any advice or suggestions on how to obtain this drug or any other usefull info!

Thanks

[Woody]

Hello Julie and welcome

You might want to ask your mom's Pdoc about something called Section 8. The way my Pdoc explained it, it is a special application that he can file in order to get medications approved when they are not.

Other option would be to contact the manufacturers of Abilify and see if they will send you some directly either at no charge or at a discounted rate.

One of our members gave us this site The Special Access Programme (SAP) but I do not believe they will cover the cost of the medication.

Here is the link for the Summary Basis of Decision (SBD) for ABILIFY

[adamantane]

Hi newbiejulie,

So I did some reading, and it does appear that Abilify is approved in Canada now. I didn't realize it was. It is a Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) drug, and yes, it is expensive, both in Canada and in the States. I do know that BMS in the US has a patient assistance program where if you can not afford the meds, they will work with patients to try to get you the medication. Although I don't see something like that explicitly on the BMS Canada website, I would imagine they have a similar program. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to ask them.

http://www.bmscanada.ca/bms/home/

adamantane

[paul m]

Hello Newbie Julie and welcome. Ablify is indeed approved in Canada. However if your mother is on some form of provincial drug plan it might not be approved for that. As Adamantane has said the drug company does have a patient assistance program.

First step would be to call any pharmacist and ask if it is approved under the provincial drug plan. In your case you are correct it is not approved under trillium, but it doesn't hurt to double ck as it changes all of the time.

Second if it is not, have her doctor file appeal form with the gov't agency stating why his patient should be covered under the plan. Trillium does have a plan where the doctor can make a reccomendation for this and your doctor will know how to do this. It is explained on trilliums website in this section. http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/...section16.html

third if those fails the drug company themselves may give it to her for free under their hardship program. However the first questions they will ask are did you try applying for an exemption etc. There is no guarentee that any drug company will cover all of their drugs under this plan. http://www.bmscanada.ca/bms/company/ .Take Care. paul m

[uni]

Welcome newbiejulie!

[AJ]

Welcome to the forums Newbiejulie. Your mother's doc could call the drug rep for his(her) area and request more samples. Maybe the request has been made and the rep doesn't have any at this time, but it wouldn't hurt to ask if that's been done.

I'm on Abilify, samples from my P.doc. The cupboard at the P.docs clinic filled with samples, is now almost empty as more and more patients in the clinic are being put on it. They are waiting for the drug rep to get more samples from the manufacturer. There are very few that can afford to pay for it. Thankfully I can.

Here in Alberta the provincial gov't funded programs are not covering it yet. It hasn't even made it to the list of approval pending. I'm quite certain that it will end up on the covered list because of it's unique mode of action (it is not a me too drug).

https://www.ab.bluecross.ca/dbl/idbl_main1.html

[newbiejulie]

Thanks so much!

Wow, thanks so much to everyone for the wonderful feeback and suggestions! I am happy to hear that Abilify is available in Canada now. I think I need to do a bit more handholding with my mother...she does have a mental health care worker who works with her, but hard to say what is getting done. Also, my mother lives in Welland, ON and the Pdocs (I am learning the short forms!) are something to be desired I was not raised by my mother and have not been actively in her life but I think I need to be as it is hard to see anyone like this!

I was a bit upset that a doc would give a sample pack without knowing he could get more! As you said AJ, more are being put in it so may be hard to keep the shelves stocked.

I feel better being armed with info and will follow up on each lead and see where it gets me, thanks again! This is the tip of the iceburg as I also have a 19 year old who is severly depressed and so needing to get her on the proper meds also. Ahhhhh, in through the nose, out through the mouth...

[paul m]

Hello NewbieJulie. Just to add another couple of things. Mental health can sometimes be difficult until you learn all of the terms and learn about some of the stupidities within the system(pdoc giving out samples without seeing if patient can afford or get).

However as you learn about different resources and how to access them it will get easier. Do not be afraid to use those resources.

Provincial and national groups can also provide much needed support or info. The Mood disorders of Ontario has a lot of info on its website www.mooddisorders.on.ca and Canada Mental Health Assoc will have a branch somewhere near you and they can be a big help. www.ontario.cmha.ca

Don't forget us. Not only are we friendly, we don't believe there is such a thing as a stupid question. Plus most of us know just how painfully hard it can be to get info and do not mind sharing. Take Care. paul m