The boy in the video lives in England.  His use of catheters to eliminate urine is 100% subsidized by the National Health Service.  If the boy lived in the US, up to 200 catheters per month are subsidized by Medicare.  On the other hand, BC PharmaCare subsidizes no catheters for children with the same condition or for the bladder cancer patients who had to remove the bladder to save their lives. This is not right.  This must be changed.  You can make it changed by signing the petition.

You do not have to be the patient to sign the petition. You can be a family member, friend, or anyone who agrees with the initiative.  

Background

When children are born with an abnormal bladder and when bladder cancer patients have their bladder removed, a doctor performs a urinary diversion surgery. After the surgery, the patient needs a different method to eliminate urine. The urinary diversions which are typically performed in BC are the Mitrofanoff procedure for children, a Urostomy for elderly patients, an Indiana Pouch for female patients, and a Neobladder for male patients. Those urinary diversions are approved by Health Canada and the BC Health Authority. The patient, with often the recommendation of the urologist, chooses a urinary diversion that should give the best quality of life to the patient. Except for the neobladder urinary diversion, other urinary diversions will require special devices to eliminate urine. The patient who chose a urostomy requires ostomy bags. The patient who chooses the Mitrofanoff procedure or an Indiana pouch requires intermittent catheters. Even the patient who chooses a Neobladder requires intermittent catheters when the patient becomes incapable of eliminating urine in an intended way.

The current practice of BC PharmaCare to subsidize ostomy bags but not intermittent catheters for children with a Mitrofanoff procedure and bladder cancer patients is unfair and discriminatory.

To give you an insider’s perspective, review the images and watch the short videos. Links to the images of the devices and how the patient uses the devices are listed below.

Click here to learn about urinary diversions and ostomy bags and catheters​

How to change an ostomy bag​

A boy with Mitrofanoff urinary diversion eliminating urine​

A female with Indiana pouch urinary diversion eliminating urine

What is this petition for?

This petition is to request BC PharmaCare to subsidize the cost of intermittent catheters for children with a Mitrofanoff urinary diversion and for bladder cancer patients with an Indiana pouch urinary diversion and with a neobladder urinary diversion who require intermittent catheters to eliminate urine​.

Justification

BC PharmaCare has been subsidizing the cost of ostomy bags and related devices for many years for the patients who chose a Urostomy urinary diversion. But BC PharmaCare has been refusing to subsidize the cost of intermittent catheters for the family of children with a Mitrofanoff procedure and cancer patients with an Indiana pouch urinary diversion and with neobladder urinary diversions who cannot eliminate urine without the use of intermittent catheters. The current practice of BC PharmaCare of subsidizing ostomy bags only, but not intermittent catheters to the parents of children with a Mitrofanoff and the bladder cancer patients is unfair and discriminatory.

The heavy financial burden to the family and the patient

The annual cost for intermittent catheters is estimated from $3,000 to $7,000 depending on the quality and the type of catheters and how frequently the patient needs to eliminate each day.  For example, children should be using pre-lubricated intermittent catheters to avoid urinary tract infection, which costs more than the catheters which require lubrication and established brand catheters will cost more than a lesser-known brand. 

For reference, in the US, their publicly-funded Medicare subsidizes up to 200 single-use intermittent catheters per month. The maximum price per catheter that Medicare covers is US$2.00. So, it subsidizes up to US$4,800 annually plus the cost of other devices such as lubricants annually. Two hundred catheters per month cover  6 to 7 catheterizations per day for elimination. That’s the same frequency as people go to use the bathroom a day. In the UK, their National Health Service subsidizes brand catheters and subsidizes 100%. We recognize that Canada and the BC health care system are different. But, $4,000 to 5,000 average annual cost for the rest of the life is too heavy a burden for the parents of a child with Mitrofanoff urinary diversion and to the bladder cancer patients with an Indiana pouch urinary diversion and with neobladder patients who cannot eliminate urine without the use of intermittent catheters.  It is forcing the parents and the patients to purchase catheters with a lesser-known brand name and reuse of intermittent catheters which are designed for single-use, risking a higher incidence of infection.

Our Plea

Please help the families who are struggling to pay for intermittent catheters for their children with Mitrofanoff urinary diversion. Please help bladder cancer patients who are struggling to pay for intermittent catheters. Above all, don’t let BC PharmaCare penalize those patients just because they choose urinary diversions to pursue the best possible quality of life. You can help reduce the heavy financial burden of the parents and the patients by signing the petition and requesting BC Pharmacare to subsidize their patient cost of buying single-use intermittent catheters.

Send a request to info@mitrofanoff.ca to receive the proposal which was presented to the BC Ministry of Health. The proposal includes 37 pages of research data.

Click here if you want to know more about Mitrofanoff, Indiana pouch and other urinary diversions​

Click here if you want to know more about bladder cancer​

Click here if you want to know more about urostomy and other ostomies

Thank you in advance for your support.

Sincerely,

Joe Aiga                                                                                                              Bladder cancer patient / Greater Vancouver Bladder Cancer Support Group / Mitrofanoff Society Canada

Pam Drucker
Bladder cancer patient with an Indiana pouch urinary diversion

Debra Rooney
President - Ostomy Canada Vancouver Chapter