Rebecca Hall lives with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, a progressively disabling cancer. At 29 years old, Hall’s goals to advance her career and grow old with her husband evaporated when she received the results of a cancer scan. Her only goal after her diagnosis was to stay alive.
Statistically, she wasn’t supposed to live to see 33. She added Herceptin and Perjeta into the mix of medications she was using to tackle her HER2+ breast cancer. Three months later, her oncologist informed her that there was no longer any evidence of disease.
People who battle breast cancer often experience extreme financial hardship due to the expense of their prescription drugs. Herceptin clocks in at $76,000 for a year-long regimen.
Herceptin has given her 3.5 years (and counting) of falling asleep next to her husband, of taking her gorgeous nieces on adventures, of having tea with her mom. Herceptin returned her hope for more birthdays. But living comes with a sky-high price tag. Each of her infusion treatments, which she receives every three weeks, costs more than $25,000. Although she benefits from her husband’s insurance, she fights for those who are not as lucky. Many stage 4 breast cancer fighters need to receive these medications continuously and indefinitely. Rebecca believes that no one should be left to die because they can’t afford a medication that is proven to benefit their condition.
Rebecca Hall is an October 2018 Price Fighting Hero for being an inspiration in the fight to lower drug prices. She’s lent her voice in the fight to lower drug prices, sharing her story with both Patients For Affordable Drugs and I-MAK, a drug pricing patient advocacy group focused on lowering drug prices through patent reform. Rebecca has also been an outspoken advocate within the metastatic breast cancer community, writing about her experiences with late-stage breast cancer and sharing her story in Bare, a film she co-wrote to show that other young women with metastatic breast cancer are not alone.
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Patients For Affordable Drugs’ Price Fighting Heroes is a 2018 series highlighting advocates in the fight to lower prescription drug prices.
We will honor patients, private sector leaders, policy makers, and elected officials who are advocating for patients and fighting for lower drug prices. In doing so, we hope to encourage others to join the fight and continue their good work.
We plan to feature our heroes on our social media accounts and blog, lift up their stories in the media and honor them at an event in 2019.
If you have someone you want to nominate as a hero, you can do so here.
