Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 5, 1992 TAG: 9203050276
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Ferris, a Chamblissburg man who had been trying to raise money for a costly bone-marrow transplant, died Wednesday morning at Roanoke Memorial Hospital of complications related to his Hodgkin's disease.
Profiled last month in the Roanoke Times & World-News, the 32-year-old cardiac technician had gone public with his story in hopes of raising donations for the treatment, which he believed his insurance company would not cover.
He died before undergoing the transplant, and after nearly $20,000 had been raised over the past two weeks toward the $150,000 procedure. He was diagnosed with Hodgkin's in August.
Over the weekend, Ferris' condition worsened unexpectedly when he failed to respond to ongoing chemotherapy and the tumors growing in his chest started cutting off the blood to his brain.
He fell into a coma Monday and died shortly after midnight Wednesday morning, said his oncologist, Dr. Stephen Kennedy. Ferris was among the 20 percent of Hodgkin's patients who die from the disease without ever going into remission, Kennedy said.
Meanwhile, Ferris' wife, Susan, said she will use the $20,000 to pay any remaining medical bills, and save what's left to donate to someone else who needs a medical treatment not covered by insurance.
Ferris had said his insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Virginia, refused to cover the transplant, which Kennedy and other doctors said likely would be Ferris' only chance for full recovery. Ferris also said Blue Cross denied coverage of a bone-marrow harvest he had at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in January in preparation for the transplant.
Blue Cross officials had taken exception to Ferris' claims, saying he still was undergoing conventional chemotherapy and had not been formally recommended for a transplant. Therefore, it was too early to make a final decision, the company said.
The company's policy is to cover transplants for Hodgkin's patients who have gone into remission for a year with chemotherapy before the disease reappears.
Blue Cross also said it generally covers bone-marrow harvests, contrary to Ferris' claims. Susan Ferris said she received a letter confirming the harvest would be covered, but didn't receive it until five days after the newspaper story about her husband was published.
by CNB