Finding Financial Support

Change Text Size

If you’re faced with a diagnosis of advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC), you or your loved ones may be facing some legal considerations and financial issues regarding health care. Here are some independent organizations and Web sites with information and programs designed to offer legal and/or financial support to people with serious illnesses and their loved ones. These Web sites are not affiliated with Pfizer.

American Cancer Society: Financial and Legal Matters

  • Information about legal and financial issues that affect people with cancer and their loved ones

E-mail: Visit http://www.cancer.org/asp/contactUs/cus_global.asp


Association of Community Cancer Centers

  • Works closely with members of Congress, government agencies, and other cancer care advocacy organizations to help assure patient access to quality cancer care

E-mail: Visit http://www.accc-cancer.org/accccontact.asp
Phone: 301-984-9496


BenefitsCheckUp
A service of the National Council on Aging

  • Comprehensive Web-based service for seniors with limited income and resources
  • Helps seniors find benefit programs that can help them pay for prescription drugs, health care, and other needs

E-mail: comments@benefitscheckup.org


CancerCare

  • Free support and information services for anyone affected by cancer
  • Financial assistance in the form of limited grants for certain treatment expenses

E-mail: info@cancercare.org
Phone: 1-800-813-HOPE (1-800-813-4673)


GovBenefits.gov

  • Official benefits Web site of the U.S. government, with information on more than 1,000 benefit and assistance programs (online only)

National Cancer Institute, U.S. National Institutes of Health

  • Coordinates the National Cancer Program, which conducts and supports research, training, health information dissemination, and other programs with respect to the cause, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cancer, rehabilitation from cancer, and the continuing care of cancer patients and the families of cancer patients

E-mail: Visit http://www.cancer.gov/contact
Phone: 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237)


NeedyMeds

  • Provides information about assistance programs available to low-income patients and their advocates at no cost. Contains a free clinics database and an online forum for patient advocates

E-mail: info@needymeds.com


Partnership for Prescription Assistance

  • Features a customized search tool that helps match patients who cannot afford medication with prescription assistance programs that provide free or nearly free medicines to eligible patients

E-mail: Visit http://www.pparx.org/about_us/contact_us#
Phone: 1-888-4PPA-NOW (1-888-477-2669)


Patient Advocate Foundation

  • Staff case managers work with patients to identify local, state, and federal assistance programs
  • Provides patients with assistance with insurers, creditors, and/or employers regarding insurers, job retention, and/or debt crisis matters relative to their diagnosis

E-mail: help@patientadvocate.org
Phone: 1-800-532-5274

Important Safety Information

  • You should not receive TORISEL if certain tests show that your liver function is moderately or severely impaired. TORISEL should be used with caution in patients whose liver function is mildly impaired and should be given at a reduced dose.
  • Before you begin treatment with TORISEL, your doctor may give you an antihistamine. It is possible to have a serious allergic reaction even after you receive an antihistamine. Tell your doctor or nurse if you are allergic to antihistamines or are unable to take antihistamines for any other medical reasons. Tell your doctor or nurse if you have any swelling around your face or difficulty breathing during or after treatment.
  • TORISEL can cause serious side effects. The most common side effects are
    • Rash
    • Weakness/fatigue
    • Mouth sores
    • Nausea
    • Swelling/fluid retention
    • Loss of appetite
  • Patients are likely to experience increased blood sugar levels. This may require treatment with or an increase in the dose of a medicine that lowers blood sugar levels. Tell your doctor or nurse if you are thirstier than usual or urinate more often than usual.
  • Patients are likely to experience an increase in cholesterol and/or triglycerides. This may require treatment with or an increase in the dose of a medicine that lowers cholesterol and/or triglycerides.
  • If you experience side effects that are too severe to tolerate, your health care professional may choose to delay your treatment, give you a lower dose of TORISEL, or discontinue treatment.
  • Before you begin treatment with TORISEL, tell your doctor or nurse about ALL MEDICINES you are taking, including
    • Prescription medications, including but not limited to antibiotics, anticonvulsants, antidepressants, antifungals, antivirals, blood pressure medications, blood thinners, dexamethasone, vaccines
    • Nonprescription (over the counter) medications
    • Vitamins
    • Herbal supplements, including but not limited to St. John’s Wort
  • Avoid eating grapefruit or drinking grapefruit juice during the course of your treatment with TORISEL, including the time between treatments.

Please see Important Safety Information continued on the next page.
  • Treatment with TORISEL may affect your immune system. You may be at greater risk of getting an infection while receiving TORISEL.



    Please see Important Safety Information continued on the next page.

    Please see accompanying full Prescribing Information.

  • Patients may get chronic inflammation of the lungs during treatment with TORISEL. Rare fatal cases have been reported. Tell your doctor or nurse right away if you have any trouble breathing, get a cough, or develop a fever.
  • TORISEL may cause bowel perforation. Rare fatal cases have been reported. Tell your doctor or nurse right away if you have any new or worsening stomach pain or blood in your stool.
  • Treatment with TORISEL may be associated with a risk of kidney failure, sometimes fatal.
  • During treatment with TORISEL, wounds may not heal properly. Tell your doctor or nurse if you are recovering or still have an unhealed wound from surgery. Tell your doctor or nurse if you plan to have surgery during treatment with TORISEL.
  • TORISEL may increase the risk of bleeding in the brain, which has, in rare cases, been fatal. You are at increased risk if
    • You have a central nervous system tumor, such as a brain tumor
    • You are taking medicine to keep your blood from clotting
  • Some vaccines may be less effective when given during the course of treatment with TORISEL. You should avoid the use of live vaccines and close contact with people who have recently received live vaccines. Ask your doctor or nurse if you are eligible to receive a flu shot.
  • Both men and women should use a reliable form of birth control during treatment and for 3 months after the last dose of TORISEL. TORISEL can harm an unborn baby. Tell your doctor or nurse before beginning treatment if you are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant.


Please see the full Prescribing Information for TORISEL.


You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Create your own custom TORISEL guide by choosing and printing the information from this Web site
that you find
most helpful.

Talk To Your Doctor

Doctor

Learn what information to share and what questions to ask when Talking To Your Doctor About TORISEL.