Battling A Serious Heart Condition, Maltese Man Left Helpless After Told His Medicine ‘Out Of Stock’
A Maltese man who last year opened up about his life being a “ticking time bomb” is living day-to-day again after being told that a crucial medication he desperately needs is out of stock.
Daniel Briffa suffers from familial hypercholesterolemia, a rare genetic disorder that increases the likelihood of having coronary heart disease at a younger age.
He suffered his first heart attack around ten years ago at the age of 31, and has since had three other heart attacks, a number of cardiac arrests, and 11 stent treatments.
Although doctors initially placed his life expectancy at 45-50 years, he said he was given new hope following the development of an injection that stops the liver from producing excessive cholesterol.
However, the medication – called Alirocumab – must be taken every two weeks, with each injection costing around €400, amounting to around €800 a month.
An Alirocumab injection - Photo: Empr.com
Daniel, who is a civil servant with three children, simply couldn’t afford these costs and appealed to the authorities for help in an emotional TVM interview.
Everything seemed to be going as planned. Daniel told Lovin Malta that shortly after the TVM interview, the Office of the Ombudsman contacted him to inform him that he had opened an investigation.
Towards the end of 2021, the Ombudsman’s Office ruled that the state should provide him with free Alirocumab and the health authorities started doing so.
The medication wasn’t added to the Pharmacy of Your Choice (POYC) scheme, but Daniel could access it from Mater Dei’s pharmacy.
“Before taking the medication, I was admitted to hospital with chest pains three to four times a year, but since taking it I didn’t need to go to hospital at all,” he said. “I haven’t suffered any chest pains or heart attacks at all… the medication worked.”
However, he warned that for the past month, Mater Dei has been informing him that Alirocumab is out of stock.
“When I told them that I need to take it regularly, they told me ‘m’hemmx x’tagħmel’ (‘there’s nothing you can do’) and that I have to buy it myself. However, I cannot afford to spend €400 every two weeks… that’s over €10,000 a year. And they haven’t given me a timeline for when it will be available again.”
Unable to afford the medication, Daniel had no other option but to stop the treatment, despite not knowing what the negatives could be.
However, when contacted by Lovin Malta, a spokesperson for the Health Ministry said that patients suffering from familial hypercholesterolemia are offered a different medication called Evolocumab “which is purchased exclusively in accordance to a special permit in line with exceptional treatment clinical protocols”.
After Lovin Malta reached out to the health authorities, Daniel said he was contacted by the Health Department, informing him that the eligible medication has been changed from Alirocumab to Evolocumab and that he would need to apply for a new permit.
While this means Daniel will probably be able to benefit from free medication again, he is frustrated at how the situation played out.
“The Health Department should have advised patients before to give consultants time to re-apply for a new permit,” he said, stating that his consultant hadn’t been notified of the changeover.
“First I spent weeks without Alirocumab as it was out of stock and no one advised me of the changeover, and now God only knows how long it will take for the new one…”
Cover photo: Daniel Briffa during a TVM interview last year
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