Singer Yubin, a former member of Wonder Girls, revealed her family's battle with illness and appealed to the public for help. It was a national petition aimed at improving the system rather than direct financial support for treatment.
On the 1st, Yubin said through her personal channel, "I am posting this because something unfortunate has happened to my family, who are so precious and dear to me." It was mentioned that her cousin's big brother's wife, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020, has continued treatment until now. However, last year the cancer spread to her brain, and she has been experiencing painful times every day.
Yubin noted, "Fortunately, we found an effective treatment drug with difficulty, but due to realistic circumstances, it is not easy to receive proper treatment. I believe this issue is not just a problem for our family but is also a critical matter linked to whether breast cancer patients can receive better treatment in the future. If we could receive even a small helping hand, many patients would be able to continue hoping."
The petition Yubin mentioned is regarding the "request for health insurance coverage and expedited processing for the breast cancer brain metastasis treatment drug Tukysa (ingredient name Tucatinib)." The petitioner stated, "Despite Tukysa's approval by the Food and Drug Administration, many patients are unable to continue treatment due to the reality of relying on personal imports and the unbearable expense of non-covered drugs," and argued, "It is necessary for the government to provide insurance coverage so that people do not have to give up on life-saving drugs for financial reasons."
Tukysa is known to be a high-cost chemotherapy drug with a two-month treatment expense of about 30 million won, exceeding 200 million won annually. As a result, not only breast cancer patients and their families but also netizens are expressing interest. Bae Yoon-jung also commented, "I agreed with the petition... I hope everyone's helping hands reach it."
However, there are negative voices saying, "If new drugs are included in health insurance without restriction, the health insurance finances will be in trouble," "It seems that people should just spend their own money," "There must be a reason why it is not designated by health insurance, it doesn't seem like the kind of household that should be receiving help."
[Photo] OSEN DB
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