Health · Healthcare & Policy · 2 hrs ago
Brazilian court orders insurer to cover pancreatic cancer drug
A Brazilian court ordered health insurer Bradesco Saúde to pay for cancer medicine for Corea Maria Goes Brihy, a 66-year-old woman with pancreatic cancer.
Her cancer cannot be removed by surgery, and chemotherapy was stopped as her health worsened.
Her family imported daraxonrasib from the United States for R$363,000 after finding no expected date for it to become available in Brazil.
The drug was approved in the United States in August for people with metastatic pancreatic cancer who have already had chemotherapy, but it is not registered in Brazil.
In a clinical trial, daraxonrasib lowered the risk of death by 60% compared with standard chemotherapy, though all patients who took it had side effects.
Corea plans to start taking it on November 2 and is worried about possible reactions.
The insurer had five days to provide the drug or its cost, but the order had not been followed by October 27; the insurer can still appeal.
A court in São Paulo state ordered Bradesco Saúde to pay for a pancreatic cancer drug for 66-year-old Corea Maria Goes Brihy.
The drug, daraxonrasib, was approved in the United States but was not registered in Brazil, so Brihy’s family imported it.
The court ordered the insurer to cover the treatment in full or face a daily fine of R$20,000.
The ruling gave the insurer five days after receiving notice to provide the drug or the money to buy it.
The order had not been complied with by October 27, and Brihy was due to start treatment on November 2.
- Who
- Corea Maria Goes Brihy, 66, and her insurer, Bradesco Saúde.
- What
- A court ordered the insurer to pay for her daraxonrasib treatment.
- When
- The judge signed the order on October 22, 2026.
- Where
- Santana de Parnaíba, in Greater São Paulo, Brazil.
- Why
- Brihy has pancreatic cancer that cannot be removed by surgery, and her condition has worsened.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Study results for daraxonrasib were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference.
The US Food and Drug Administration approved daraxonrasib for certain patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.
A judge ordered Bradesco Saúde to cover Brihy’s treatment.
The five-day deadline for the insurer began after it received judicial notice.
The order had not been complied with.
Brihy was due to begin taking the drug.
- Patient
- Corea Maria Goes Brihy, 66
- Drug
- Daraxonrasib, marketed as Rasonque
- Court
- 1st Civil Court of Santana de Parnaíba
- Insurer
- Bradesco Saúde
- Import cost
- R$363,000
- Penalty
- R$20,000 per day
What people are saying
I do not recognize myself. Some days I have diarrhea, some days I vomit, some days I have a lot of pain. I do not have a moment of peace, of saying: ‘Ah, I’m fine now.’
My hope is in the medicine and in God, who will make everything turn out well. I’m obviously very afraid of the reaction it could cause.
Time is our mother’s greatest enemy.