|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
October 6, 2005 Media Contact: Peri Jude Radecic, Director
of Public Advocacy (520)
327-9547 Cell:
(623) 308-5111 |
in
Lawsuit
Seeks Preliminary Injunction to Force AHCCCS to
Provide
Lifesaving Transplant for Three Year Old
Center
Seeks Corrected Definition of “Experimental Treatment”
Phoenix, Arizona...........On
October 5, 2005, the Arizona Center for Disability Law (Center) filed a lawsuit
in Maricopa County Superior Court against the Arizona Health Care Cost
Containment System (AHCCCS), Arizona’s Medicaid program, seeking a lifesaving
transplant for one child but looking to challenge AHCCCS’ restrictive
definition of “experimental” so that others with similar rare life threatening
conditions can receive treatment.
The lawsuit seeks to reverse a
decision by AHCCCS to deny an autologous stem cell transplant for Linda Moreno,
a three year old
“This case has implications for any
AHCCCS recipient with a rare disease,” said Jennifer L. Nye, Staff Attorney for
the Center. “AHCCCS’ definition of an
experimental service has certainly interfered with effective treatment for
Linda and will severely limit options in treating other rare conditions.”
Currently, AHCCCS requires evidence
of standard of care, peer reviewed journal articles, and safety and
effectiveness to find a service to be non-experimental. The Center contends that meeting any one of
these standards is legally sufficient to show the procedure is
non-experimental. In Linda’s case, AHCCCS relied, in part, on the fact that
there have not been large randomized studies of the stem cell transplant for
metastatic retinoblastoma to find that it is not the standard of care and
therefore experimental.
“In Linda’s case, the autologous
stem cell transplant, is considered safe and effective and the standard
of care by leading pediatric oncologists across the country,” said Nye. “Because her condition is so rare, there have
not been, and probably will never be, large randomized studies of the treatment
she needs.”
Affidavits submitted by leading
pediatric oncologists across the county agree that if Linda doesn’t receive
this transplant, she has a 90% chance of death.
With the transplant, she has a 75-80% chance of survival.
Retinoblastoma is an extremely rare
cancer that occurs in only approximately 200-300 children per year in the
“The practical impact of AHCCCS’
definition of experimental is that it denies lifesaving treatment even when
specialists in the field agree that it is the standard of care and there is
authoritative evidence that the procedure is safe and effective,” said Nye.
A court date has not yet been set.
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The
Arizona Center for Disability Law is a not for profit public interest law firm,
dedicated to protecting the rights of individuals with a wide range of
physical, mental, psychiatric, sensory and cognitive disabilities. The