[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 176 (Tuesday, December 1, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2842-E2843]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        RECOGNIZING DAN CALLAHAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JERRY F. COSTELLO

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 1, 2009

  Mr. COSTELLO. Madam Speaker, I rise today to ask my colleagues to 
join me in honoring one of my constituents, Dan Callahan, the head 
baseball coach at Southern Illinois University, and congratulate him on 
being awarded the Missouri Valley Conference's Most Courageous Award. 
This award honors those that have demonstrated unusual courage in the 
face of personal illness, adversity, or tragedy.
  In his 16 years at SIU, Coach Callahan has contributed a great deal 
to the community. He is well-known and respected for not just his 
coaching skills, but also for his ability to inspire off of the field.
  Three years ago, Coach Callahan was diagnosed with a very rare and 
very serious form of skin cancer. Despite undergoing treatment for the 
cancer, including surgery, Coach Callahan did not miss a game that 
season. Sadly, the cancer continued to grow. He faced more intense 
treatments, but was given hope when his oncologist recommended a new 
drug, Avastin, that can stop the spread of cancer and in some cases 
even shrink tumors. His doctor tried it on him and it worked. However, 
his insurance company will not cover the cost of the drug that is 
keeping Dan Callahan alive.
  He now has no choice regarding his treatment. He cannot afford what 
his doctor recommends and his insurance company will not cover it. He 
cannot get new insurance because of his history of cancer. This could 
happen to anyone.
  His experiences are well documented in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch 
editorial that I would like added to the record.
  I wanted to make my colleagues aware of Dan's situation, congratulate 
him on his award, and wish him luck on the baseball field and 
especially in his recovery.
  I submit an editorial from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch which was 
published November 6, 2009, relating to Dan Callahan's case.

     Costly New Drugs: A Crisis for One Family, a Quandry For U.S.

       It began with a little black spot on Dan Callahan's lower 
     lip. He didn't think it was

[[Page E2843]]

     anything to worry about. His doctor thought it was cancer.
       The doctor was right.
       It was neurotropic melanoma, a very rare--and very 
     serious--type of skin cancer. Even after the little black 
     spot was successfully removed six years ago, the cancer 
     remained. And grew.
       Last October, doctors at Barnes-Jewish Hospital began 
     chemotherapy. They used a three-drug cocktail that indudes 
     Avastin, one of a new generation of anti-cancer drugs. It 
     works by blocking the formation of new blood vessels that 
     feed and nourish tumors. Until just a few years ago, that 
     kind of treatment was the stuff of science fiction.
       For patients battling advanced cancer like Mr. Callahan, 
     Avastin represents something as important as food or water: 
     It is time in a vial.
       This is what it cost: $13,686 per treatment. Mr. Callahan 
     has received six so far. Total price: $82,116.
       What's it worth? That's a much more difficult question.
       About 10 miles up Illinois Route 13 east of Carbondale, 
     Ill.--just above Crab Orchard Lake--lies a little town called 
     Carterville. Mr. Callahan lives there with his wife, Stacy, 
     and two daughters. Alexa, 18, is a student at the University 
     of Illinois. Carty, 13, is in eighth grade.
       You can buy a three-bedroom house in Carterville for about 
     what Mr. Callahan's six infusions of Avastin cost. For about 
     $100,000--the price of a year's treatment--you can get a 
     dassic bungalow with a screened-in front porch, a long, 
     shaded driveway and a two-bedroom cottage out back.
       The Callahans both have good jobs and health insurance. 
     Stacy works for a credit union. Dan is the head baseball 
     coach at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.
       Their insurance paid for minor surgery to remove the little 
     black spot from Mr. Callahan's lip. It paid for more 
     extensive surgery in April, when doctors removed the right 
     side of his jaw trying to stop the cancer's spread.
       And it paid for yet another operation in September, when 
     infection forced doctors to remove the prosthetic device they 
     had implanted to replace his missing jaw.
       But Mr. Callahan's insurance won't pay for Avastin.
       The U.S. Food and Drug Administietion approved Avastin in 
     2004 to treat advanced colon cancer. Since then, it has been 
     cleared for breast and lung cancers. Doctors are free to 
     prescribe it for other forms of cancer. It is being tried on 
     30 other cancers, induding melanoma, but those uses 
     technically are experimental.
       Because many experimental treatments don't pan out, 
     insurance companies in Illinois and most other states do not 
     have to cover them. The major health care bills pending in 
     Congress would not change that. For the first time, they 
     allow generic versions of so-called biologic drugs like 
     Avastin. But only after 12 years on the market, twice as long 
     as other drugs.
       For thousands of Americans, including the Callahans, that 
     means many newer cancer drugs are out of reach. ``When they 
     told me the insurance wouldn't cover it, I said well just pay 
     for it ourselves,'' Mrs. Callahan recalled last week. ``Then 
     they told me how much it cost.''
       The Callahans scraped together about $27,000 from friends 
     and family members--enough to cover the cost of two 
     treatments. They got a grant from Washington University to 
     pay for four more. They are appealing the insurance company 
     denial, so far without success. The grant expires at the end 
     of December. After that?
       Mrs. Callahan paused. ``We don't know what we'll do.''
       Despite the high prices and higher hopes, Avastin has been 
     shown to extend cancer patients' lives by only a few months.
       Many patients and oncologists say it improves quality of 
     life and shrinks tumors--or at least prevents them from 
     growing.
       Mr. Callahan's doctor said it has slowed the progression of 
     his tumor.
       That is no small achievement for patients with advanced 
     cancer. But stopping the progression of cancer is not the 
     same as curing it. A study published in January followed 53 
     melanoma patients who received Avastin. After 18 months, 13 
     were alive.
       The company that makes Avastin, Genentech, spent about 
     $2.25 billion to develop it. It spends another $1 billion a 
     year testing it on new cancers. Avastin has been a 
     blockbuster success. It had $2.7 billion in sales in the 
     United States last year and more than $3.5 billion worldwide.
       Genentech says Avastin's price reflects its value. Another 
     cancer drug, Erbitus, costs even more, and it hasn't been 
     shown to extend life at all. In March, Swiss pharmaceutical 
     giant Roche agreed to buy Genentech for $46.8 billion. 
     Avastin is a big reason the company was sold for so much 
     money.
       Not everyone agrees that Avastin is worth the price. 
     Experts in Britain recommended against covering it. A drug 
     that costs as much as a house and extends life for just a few 
     months isn't worth the money, they said.
       Some people go to pieces when they find out they've got 
     cancer. Mr. Callahan went to work.
       He has coached the Salukis for 14 years. ``I try to carry 
     on like I'm going to be here next week and next month,'' he 
     said. ``I think about coaching in 2010, about going to my 
     daughters' college graduations and their weddings.''
       His 2009 team finished with 24 wins and 28 losses. Coach 
     Callahan was too sick to travel to away games. But he was in 
     the dugout each time the Salukis took the field in 
     Carbondale.
       From the beginning, the Callahans have made it a point not 
     to ask doctors about his prognosis. ``We don't want to know 
     it, and we don't want our kids to know it,'' Mrs. Callahan 
     said. ``We just wanted to live our lives as normally as 
     possible, with no time line.''
       Coach Callahan thinks it is inherently unfair that patients 
     can be denied treatment simply because of a drug's high 
     price. It's like giving one team an extra at-bat.
       But the game is not over. Even with two outs in the ninth 
     inning, even with two strikes against you, there's hope. And 
     a question: Who sets the price of victory?

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