"I don't know how long I'll live"

Breast cancer patient Irina Usova from Krasnogorsk survived eight courses of chemotherapy and radiation. Now her life depends on the drug Herceptin, which she is entitled to by law. But it is impossible to get the medicine - it simply isn’t there, and Irina doesn’t even have anything to sell in order to find the 1 million 600 thousand rubles needed to buy Herceptin. Almost all patients in the Moscow region face a shortage of vital drugs. Some of them are discussed in a special project by PublicPost and the non-profit partnership “Equal Right to Life” .

About diagnosis and start of treatment

I am 46 years old, I am a military pensioner - I served in the army for 23 years as a clerk. Now I also work as a storekeeper, but the salary is small. On January 27, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, stage 2 with metastases in the supraclavicular lymph nodes. I discovered the tumor myself, my chest hurt. Now I am registered at a dispensary here in Krasnogorsk, and the operation was performed in Moscow, at the Scientific Center of X-ray Radiology on Profsoyuznaya. I was given three courses of chemotherapy there, according to the quota, and then sent for further treatment at my place of registration. When I arrived after the operation, I needed to take 5 more courses, of which I paid for two myself. They simply did not have the necessary drugs in stock, although by law they were required to do it for free. It came out to about 12.5 thousand rubles per course. Of course, the doctors suggested waiting, but I really needed it - according to the treatment plan, the interval between courses is 21 days. Of course, I couldn’t afford it, I had to borrow money.

Photo: Reuters

About something without which there is no life

I need to take Herceptin now. This is also a course of chemotherapy, but not everyone is injected with it, only those who have the HER2 gene. This is a fixative drug, it prevents the disease from returning and prolongs life. For ordinary people, chemotherapy and radiation therapy are enough, but 30% also need this drug, it is simply necessary. You should also start taking it 21 days after the course of chemotherapy. And I already had radiation therapy, I spent 15 weeks in the hospital. When I was on radiation therapy, the doctor asked how it was that I wasn’t receiving it. The Muscovites were with me; they had Herceptin. They didn’t offer me any alternative at the Trade Union. I think that knowing about the problems with Herceptin, the doctor would have said if it could have been replaced with something. I called the Krasnogorsk health department, the Ministry of Health, Roszdravnadzor, and even the president - there are no answers yet. In Krasnogorsk they said that they do not know why Herceptin is not available and cannot say when it will appear. Of course, you can buy it just like that. But the treatment for me lasts for a year, and the amount I need to take is 1 million 600 thousand rubles. One package, once every 21 days. Each costs 100 thousand, for one time. For me this is an unrealistic amount, I don’t even have anything to sell. The doctors look pitifully, but they can’t help either.

About despair

After the New Year, everything in my life turned upside down. I want to live, life has become more expensive. It’s good that the family is supportive - I know women whose husbands leave them in such situations. While I was being treated, there were no failures in the chain that the doctors had built. Both surgery and chemotherapy... This is a difficult procedure, but everything went well. I was sure that there would be a cure, but now I can’t finish it, I’m just in shock. It turns out that all the treatment comes to naught. For me, even one year of life is like a century. And now I’m lost, and I don’t know how long I’ll live.