The Ontario Ministry of Health (MOH) has approved FerriScan as a full payment of insured out-of-country (OOC) health services, providing approved patients with an accurate assessment of their body iron stores. This is particularly important for patients with blood disorders such as thalassaemia and sickle cell anaemia who may require regular blood transfusions. Excess iron can quickly build up in the patient necessitating iron chelation therapy. This can now be better managed with an accurate and non-invasive assessment of body iron.
A prior approval application must be submitted to the MOH by the treating physician for each patient before the FerriScan test is provided.
There are approximately 500 thalassaemia major patients in Canada who would benefit from this test. Additionally, we estimate a much larger number of sickle cell patients in Canada (~6000 patients) which occurs more commonly in the population of African descent. Approximately 20% sickle cell patients require regular blood transfusions as part of their disease management and therefore require an accurate assessment of the build up of excess iron in their body. |
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