This week the battle for Compassionate Use in cancer trials laid to rest one of its bravest: Andrea “Andi” Sloan.
Andrea, a 37-year-old attorney and horsewoman, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer seven years ago. For much of that time she participated in the more traditional therapies: surgeries, chemotherapies, radiation, and even a stem cell transplant. Then in 2013, she created global awareness when she formed Andi’s Army, a group on a mission to allow she and others access to trial cancer drugs, not because the data could benefit a manufacturer’s launch of a drug, but instead because it could help improve or extend a patient’s life. This is commonly known as “Compassionate Use.” Andi’s Army released this very eloquent statement. Andi may be gone, but her mission will live on.
Statement from Andi’s Army on the passing of Andrea Sloan
“Dear Lord, let me live each day so that when I am gone it can be said, ‘She was a woman of determined faith, happily resigned to fate, who drank Joy for breakfast as if it were coffee.’”
– Andrea Sloan
On January 1, 2014, our dear friend Andrea Sloan passed away due to complications from pneumonia. In the midst of our grief, we remember her with gratitude. She taught us about courage, hope and the resilience of the human spirit during her valiant seven-year battle with ovarian cancer. Andrea entrusted her legacy of compassion for all creatures to us. She was determined to bring meaningful reform to our nation’s regulatory system through changes to compassionate use policies for terminally-ill patients. Andi’s Army is committed to seeing her dream realized, and we will in due time. Andrea’s joy for life was contagious. Please join us in honoring her memory by sharing and appreciating joy in your daily lives. As the American rock star Tom Petty said, “I won’t say goodbye my friend for you and I will meet again.”
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Texas Advocacy Project or to the “Moon Shots Program” at MD Anderson Cancer Center in memory of Andrea Sloan. Memorial service plans for Andrea are pending and will be announced when available.
News coverage about Andrea.
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