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Starting in his early teens, Deshawn “DJ” Chow wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to live a normal life. Crushing pain episodes brought on by his sickle cell disease were getting progressively worse.
“It’s just been hard skipping school and always being in and out of the hospital,” the 19-year-old said. “And just severe pain in … my head and my lower back.”
When new sickle cell gene therapies were approved by the Food and Drug Administration just over a year ago, Chow’s adopted parents sought out City of Hope Children’s Cancer Center in Los Angeles to get him access to the new treatment. To their relief, the center accepted him as patient, and quickly secured authorization from the Chows’ employer-sponsored insurance.
“They’re covering pretty much all of this [at] almost no cost out of pocket for us. So, we’re really grateful for those benefits,” said DJ’s dad, Sean Chow. “I’m amazed.”
DJ Chow is one of a handful of the hospital’s patients who have been treated with Casgevy, the sickle gene therapy produced by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, which...