Lucas Maciesza of Guelph, Ontario has a very rare, acquired (not genetic) blood disorder that is fatal if left untreated, but unfortunately the treatment is extremely expensive — to the tune of $500,000 per year. Soliris, the drug developed to treat paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH — the disease afflicting Mr. Maciesza), can nearly cure the disease, but has the dubious distinction of being the most expensive drug on the planet, and must be taken for life. PNH causes thrombosis, which can lead to pulmonary embolism, stroke and a number of other complications that can kill its victims.

Ontario’s health ministry has been dragging its feet on the issue of funding the treatment for Mr. Maciesza, who has received five infusions thanks to London Health Science Center, which purchased $75,000 worth of the drug to save his life.

Near death when he was diagnosed in November, Lucas has made a remarkable recovery, but he promises that he would quickly stop taking the drug and wasting taxpayer money if it stopped working. As a young man, he would presumably have a long life ahead of him if the drug continued to successfully treat his PNH, but without it he will likely die.

In a statement to the province he wrote last week, Mr. Maciesza laid out the facts:

I was released from hospital and I continue to feel great…

I am now convinced, beyond a doubt, that without continued access to Soliris I will die. The infusions are every two weeks and if for any reason this treatment stops working, I will be the first one to stop it and save the taxpayers the cost — you have my word on it.

This might seem to be another one of those unfortunate tragedies wherein the harsh realities of the marketplace condemn a man to die, but it turns out that Ontario is actually already paying for the drug for another PNH patient — 70-year-old Norma Metz of North Bay. The reasoning behind funding her infusions was that it was the “compassionate” thing to do.

For Lucas Maciesza, however, it seems the government of Ontario is having a difficult time finding the same compassion. It is exactly these kinds of decisions that let us know exactly how much value is placed on lives, and it seems that a young man merits less than an old woman.

Hopefully, Ontario will do the right thing: cutting women’s studies programs in the province should easily provide the funds needed to keep a young man alive, and probably an old woman, too. It would be the compassionate thing to do.