Morning Update: Sending B.C. cancer patients to U.S. for care will triple costs

Good morning, Sending B.C. cancer patients to undergo radiation therapy in the United States will cost the province three times the amount for the treatment at home, the province says. Long wait times and much-needed upgrades to equipment have forced the provincial government to send about 50 breast and prostate cancer patients each week to two clinics in Bellingham, Wash. The Ministry of Health says most of these patients will receive five fractions of radiation therapy, which would cost $3,854 at home, compared with $12,277 at the private U.S. cancer centres. This does not include other expenses such as travel,…