Shortages, Ethics and the Scramble to Stay Alive

There is a nationwide shortage of Doxil, a chemotherapy drug used to treat recurrent ovarian cancer among other cancers. My oncologist told me two days ago when he said that I would need to start Doxil in combination with carboplatin to treat my now recurrent cancer.  New supplies are not expected until mid or late August.  The drug is distributed by Johnson & Johnson and manufactured by Ben Venue Laboratories in Bedford, Ohio, a unit of Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH of Germany. A representative of the manufacturer explained that the company is facing "manufacturing capacity constraints" that have held up some products, and it is working diligently to prioritize and expedite manufacturing for current orders." (WSJ 7/21/11)  The devil in me wonders if it is the priorities are set by the lower financial return Doxil brings or the fact that it is a woman's disease that Doxil mostly treats.

However, I also am grappling with an ethics issue.  I have joined an ovarian cancer forum on the internet where it came to my attention in one discussion that women from around the country are scrambling to get to places remote from their regular treatment centers to get the precious Doxil before it runs out.  One woman said a small supply was available in Texas; another thought some could be had in Boston.  I must say that such behavior makes me very uncomfortable.  Why should a scarce product be given to someone who shows up on a doorstep wanting it?  One of the women insisted that she was doing well and needed to finish 6 cycles even though my own oncologist said that six cycles may not be necessary for everyone (particularly someone who is "doing well").

I suppose the "battle" against cancer is like every other battle-- get in there and slug it out to get what you need and want.  I have a lot of fight in me but I find it unlikely that at this point I would fly 2000 miles to get a treatment that may not give you much more of an edge anyway.  But maybe I am still too new to this chronic cancer treatment situation.  The odds are that the rest of my life, whether it is a few years or many more, I will be going regularly for treatment.  I wonder if the more you go through treatment, the more you are desperate to make sure you get it.  If you don't, maybe the next recurrence will be your last because the cancer will have spread too far.

Is there a principled way to decide who gets the limited supplies of this cancer drug other than the slugfest for the last drops? All of us burdened with ovarian cancer need treatment to stay alive.   Is it anymore principled for me to have access to top rate health care because I have excellent health insurance whereas someone else will not get the needed drug or treatment because insurance will not pay and it is otherwise unaffordable?  Perhaps it is my diminished IQ due to learning of the recurrence of cancer, but I do not have any answers.  I just know that it makes me uncomfortable.