DUNMORE, Pa. -- A shortage of a lifesaving drug for pediatric cancer patients is sending parents nationwide into a panic. As some children are being forced to go without this much-needed medication, one mother from Lackawanna County is taking action.
Vincristine is a common drug used to treat most childhood cancers, like leukemia. Over the summer, Teva Pharmaceuticals discontinued it. Now there's only one supplier of Vincristine for the entire country, Pfizer, and that company is currently experiencing manufacturing delays, meaning there's not enough of this lifesaving drug to go around.
When Tori Donahue learned her nine-year-old son Luca had leukemia last year, she was scared. When she found out earlier this month that, after beating cancer once, he might have to do it again, she was terrified.
"My initial reaction was panic," she said.
Luca is currently in his first year of remission. He still relies on monthly doses of the drug Vincristine to keep him from relapsing. With that drug now in short supply, Tori is one of the thousands of moms across the country fighting for her child's survival.
"Trying to tell your kid, 'oh, you beat cancer once, but something is happening right now where if you're affected by it, you might have to do it again.'"
There is currently no substitute for Vincristine.
Tori started a petition to send to the White House, calling not only for short-term action but long-term changes.
"We should have a stockpile of these drugs. They should be ready to go for our children to receive," Tori said.
Within a week, it already has nearly 90,000 signatures. Little Luca is doing his part to get more.
"I kicked cancer's butt once. And if you don't sign this petition, I'm going to have to do it again. And that is not going to be good," Luca said.
The FDA website says deliveries of Vincristine should resume at the end of the month but that shortages might continue until January.
Some hospitals have had to resort to rationing the drug, based on a child's risk level.
Fortunately, Luca's hospital is not one of them, but the threat of the shortage lasting is enough to keep Tori up at night.
"Regardless of whether your child has or had cancer, I don't know a single solitary parent who loves their child who could look at this situation and not have their heartbreak a little bit."
For the White House to respond to Tori's petition, it needs 100,000 signatures within 30 days.
Tori needs about 12,000 more by November 15.