British Columbia Must Align MS Treatment Access With the Rest of Canada ..Before More Patients Are Harmed

My name is Cassandra, and I live in British Columbia. I have Relapse-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis.

In October 2025, I learned I would lose access to the medication that has protected my vision for nearly 10 years. A therapy available to MS patients across Canada but restricted here in B.C.

What began as my personal fear quickly became something much bigger. I realized this isn’t just about me. It’s about every MS patient in British Columbia who may one day be told they cannot access the treatment their neurologist recommends or being forced to switch medications when stable - putting them at great risk of further irreversible disability..simply because of where they live.

Access to life-altering and life-saving treatment should never depend on a postal code.

My Story

In 2017, I began losing vision in my right eye. Then my left started to follow.

After relentless optic nerve attacks, MRIs confirmed my diagnosis: extensive brain lesions, active optic nerve inflammation, and damage that would later become permanent scarring.

I was facing blindness.

When I accessed my recommended therapy Ocrevus in early 2018 , my disease stabilized. That was after months of high-dose steroids and failed oral medications. My medical team did everything they could to save what was left and slow progression. For the first time, I wasn’t waiting for the next loss.  They knew what was needed, I accessed Ocrevus through a patient assistance program then under private insurance. 

My disease stabilized.

My fear eased - I could see my children’s faces. I could watch their milestones. I could breathe.

When I chose it in early 2018, provinces across Canada were adding it to their public plans. Thinking BC would be next…I never imagined that losing private coverage would mean losing access to the therapy that’s saved my vision, one that’s allowed me to continue to see my children’s every day milestones and their beautiful faces.

Now - it’s become a reality - and Iv now lost coverage due to BC’s restrictions. 

In MS, stability is fragile. Once you have it, protecting it becomes your highest priority. 

The Bigger Problem in British Columbia

In every other Canadian province, neurologists can prescribe Health Canada–approved, Canadian MS–recommended therapies like Ocrevus and Kesimpta for relapsing MS under public coverage.

In British Columbia, they are not publicly funded for relapsing MS.

Instead, patients are directed to off-label Rituxan or its biosimilars treating these medications as interchangeable.

They are not.

Newer B-cell therapies like Ocrevus and Kesimpta were specifically engineered for MS. They provide more targeted depletion of harmful B cells, reduce inflammatory response and  reactions, and are designed for steadier long-term disease control. Kesimpta is fully humanized, further lowering the risk of inflammatory response.

MS is an inflammatory disease of the brain, spinal cord, central nervous system, and optic nerves. Reducing inflammatory damage is the primary goal because every relapse risks permanent disability.

In MS, a relapse is not just a setback.

It can mean permanent vision loss. Permanent mobility loss. Permanent cognitive change.

Forced Switching and Denied Access can Destabilize Patients

One of the foundational principles of MS care is simple:

Keep stable patients stable and access to all therapies available .

Yet in British Columbia: 
•Patients lose access if private insurance ends or changes.
•Stable patients risk forced switching. 
•Patients without insurance are denied access to the therapy their neurologist recommends or deems necessary. 
•Clinical judgment is overridden by policy.

Forced switching carries risks and uncertainty - relapse, immune reactions, reduced tolerability, and irreversible progression.

Denied access from the start risks permanent disability and progression that could be prevented with the right treatment. 

What is intended as a cost-saving measure can instead increase healthcare burden.. more relapses, more hospitalizations, more steroids, more disability supports.

Policy decisions are risking destabilizing patients with an incurable disease.

MS Is Heterogeneous .. Access Must Reflect That

Multiple Sclerosis is not one-size-fits-all.

Lesion location, inflammatory severity, progression rate, and treatment response vary dramatically between patients.

That is why access to all medications within each therapeutic class is essential.

Even within the same class, therapies are engineered differently with meaningful differences in efficacy, safety profile, and long-term outcomes from person to person.

What protects one person’s vision may not protect another person’s mobility.

What stabilizes one patient may fail another.

One of the fundamental pillars of MS treatment across Canada is ensuring neurologists can match:

The right therapy-to the right patient, at the right time.

British Columbia is the only province restricting that choice.

What We Are Asking

We are calling on the Government of British Columbia to: 
•Publicly fund Ocrevus and Kesimpta for relapsing MS, aligning with the rest of Canada 
•Protect stable patients from forced switching 
•Ensure access decisions are based on clinical need not postal code 
•Respect neurologist expertise and national MS standards of care

MS is incurable. Damage is irreversible.

Access decisions must reflect that reality. 

What I’ve Been Doing to Fight Back

I’ve been pushing as hard as I can to bring attention to this inequality: 
•Speaking directly with government officials and health authorities.. 
•Participating in media interviews to raise public awareness
•Leading social media campaigns highlighting the gaps in care for B.C. MS patients compared to the rest of Canada •Initiating a formal investigation with the B.C. Ombudsperson to hold the system accountable 
•Working alongside advocacy groups like MS Canada & being invited as a patient speaker to the MedAccessBC 2026 forum

I’m doing everything in my power to ensure decision-makers understand the possible consequences of denying access to life-altering therapies. But the risk remains and the clock is ticking.

No British Columbian should risk their vision, mobility, or independence because policy overrides medication choice chosen carefully.

Please stand with MS patients in British Columbia.

Sign and share this petition. Your signature could be the one to create change!