Community rallies around Olcott boy battling cancer [Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.]

Mar. 29—OLCOTT — The Hazlett family has gone through some tough times, but the newest development for 7-year-old Harrison and the aggressive cancer that has now dropped into his lungs is something that his mother, Dayna, could not believe.

After being thrown into the whirlwind of her son's third reoccurrence of osteosarcoma recently, Hazlett was told that her family's health insurer, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York, wouldn't cover the treatment recommended for Harrison, because it's considered experimental, despite it being endorsed by the tumor board at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dayna was stunned. Without insurance picking up the tab, the treatment would cost Harrison's parents in excess of $30,000. Even so, they got him started on it earlier this week.

Dayna noted that during Harrison's latest relapse, a pea-sized tumor became a golf ball-sized tumor within days, so she could not wait through Highmark's appeal process. Harrison received his first round of chemotherapy on Tuesday; that will be followed by surgery and 12 more rounds of chemo.

With encouragement from friends, Dayna took to social media to shine light on Highmark's decision, which to her seemed "ridiculous."

"Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is denying it because it's not on their formularies for osteosarcoma ... . Of course it's not on their formulary because they don't have drugs for children," she said. "This (drug that's not covered) is something for other cancers, but they're seeing if it will work in osteosarcoma. ... His oncologist put in the appeal and they denied it within the hour."

"How you can you say 'no' if a whole board of doctors recommended this?"

A community effort on Harrison's behalf grew quickly. A GoFundMe page was established to raise donations for his treatment and an online petition (https://tinyurl.com/4z8kh853) calling on Highmark to reverse itself had gathered more than 600 signatures by midweek. In addition, the Union-Sun & Journal contacted Highmark for an explanation why the tumor board-recommended treatment, which according to Dayna Hazlett would cost less than the conventional treatment and produce less harsh side effects, wasn't covered.

In a surprise development on Thursday, Harrison's parents were contacted by Highmark, which indicated a change of heart.

"They said they're going to cover the drug," Harrison's very relieved father Alex Hazlett said in a brief interview. "There's nothing in writing, but that's what they said."

The community has been rallying around Harrison through the Facebook page "Harrison's Fight" since June 2019, when Harrison was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a form of bone cancer that occurs most often in children and young adults. He continued to receive chemotherapy, via pills, after returning to Newfane Elementary School in January 2021, and experienced his third relapse, or reoccurrence of cancer after remission, last week.

Highmark defended its initial rejection of the treatment course recommended for Harrison. In a statement to the US&J, communications director Kyle Rogers said, "our coverage decisions are reviewed thoroughly by a team of licensed pharmacists and doctors. Our decisions are guided by science, medical evidence and guidelines that are established by the medical community. We closely follow the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's evidence-based, nationally recognized guidelines for oncology coverage decisions. We engage external physicians and pharmacists to continuously review our policies."

Rogers also stated that any "request" could be reviewed by a different set of doctors and the company would consider additional information from a physician.

The GoFundMe page for Harrison's treatment (https://tinyurl.com/ycksm9d9) had raised more than $50,000 as of Thursday.

For continued updates, visit "Harrison's Fight" on Facebook.

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