Public coverage of lorlatinib
Petitioners ask the Government of Canada to fund lorlatinib for ALK‑positive lung cancer in second‑line and later nationwide, establish timely evidence‑based access pathways for precision oncology, and table a House report on timelines.
Why we would sign this petition
- Would enable patients to access lorlatinib in later treatment lines, addressing the petitioners' claim that lack of coverage forces them to forgo effective therapy.
- Would create clear, timely, evidence‑based access pathways for precision oncology, helping ensure therapies with proven benefit are funded equitably.
- Would require the government to report steps and timelines, increasing accountability for achieving national access.
Why we wouldn’t sign this petition
- Expanding public coverage would increase drug spending and may require trade‑offs with other health priorities.
- Pan‑Canadian implementation can be complex; provincial jurisdiction and coordination challenges could delay or limit the policy's effect.
- Opponents may argue further assessment or price negotiation is needed to confirm value and affordability before broader funding.
The summary and both sets of reasons are AI-generated from the petition and given equal weight. Claims are the petitioners’ own; consult the official record for the full text.
Official petition
Petition to the Government of Canada ALK-positive lung cancer afflicts Canadians who are often younger and have never smoked, and frequently involves a stage IV diagnosis that is devastating to patients and families; Lorlatinib is a Health Canada–approved, targeted therapy with demonstrated survival benefits. As a convenient oral medication it allows patients to keep working, caring for families, contributing to their communities, and living their lives. Currently, it is only covered if it is the first treatment taken; Access to lorlatinib as a second treatment or later remains cost-prohibitive for Canadians without public coverage, forcing patients to forgo effective therapy, and often resulting in early death; Timely access to lorlatinib improves outcomes, reduces symptoms and avoids high-cost interventions (such as hospitalizations); and Lorlatinib in the second line is approved by 25 major regulators worldwide (incl. UK, US, Australia), with health-system evaluations finding it a high-value option. We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada committed to equitable, evidence-based cancer care, call upon the Government of Canada to: 1. Work with the Canadian Drug Agency, the Institut national d’excellence en santé et en services sociaux, provincial and territorial health tables, to ensure public coverage of lorlatinib for ALK-positive lung cancer in the second-line and ulterior settings across Canada; 2. Establish clear, timely, and evidence-based access pathways for precision oncology medicines so that therapies with demonstrated clinical benefit are funded equitably; and 3. Table a report to the House outlining the steps taken and timelines to achieve equitable national access to lorlatinib.
Government response
No government response is available yet.