Iqaluit woman has to fly south for Crohn's disease drug

The IV drug treatment Anushka Nagji needs to treat Crohn'sdiseasecouldbe done locally at Qikiqtani General Hospital, but instead she's forced to fly to Ottawa every six to eight weeks and shoulder part of the travel expense.

Nagjisays flare-ups ofCrohn'sdisease, a chronicbowel disorder thatcausesmalnourishment,diarrhea, vomiting and pain, disrupt herlife.

She controls hersymptoms by managing stress, watching what she eats and medication. She's now on one of the last medications available to her,an intravenously-administereddrug calledRemicade.

"As long as I continue to take that, I can maintain a fair quality of life," she says.

Nagjineeds theRemicadetreatment every six to eight weeks. The procedure only takes about two and a half hoursbut she can only get it outside the territory. For her, that means paying part of the flight to Ottawa and paying out of pocket for a hotel and taxis.

"I don't want to travel every sixto eightweeks," she says. "It exacerbates symptoms when I'm already experiencing symptoms close to my infusion date."

Nagjisays sheasked doctors and nurses inIqaluit about why she could not receive the drug here, but says she didn't get any answers.

The Chief of Staff of QikiqtaniGeneral Hospital saysuntil recentlyRemicadeneeded to be prepared in a fume hood, which the hospital doesn't have.

"When you people asked the question, it made us do a bit of research and it turns out you don't need a fume hood to administer Remicadeany more," said Dr.SandyMacDonald.

MacDonaldsays that meansRemicadecould be delivered inIqaluit if there's enough demand and if it saves money. But he says staff need to be trainedand protocols put in place.

Nagji says it's exciting to think she might one day get the treatment a short drive away from home instead of flying thousands of kilometres.