‘Yolanda’ hero loses fight with leukemia

PALO, Leyte—Dario Raagas, the leukemia-stricken firefighter and Super Typhoon “Yolanda” first responder who fought pharmaceutical giant Novartis when he was denied access to a life-saving drug, has died, his family told the Inquirer.

Raagas died early morning on Sunday, three days after his 44th birthday on Sept. 4 at his home in Barangay (village) Buri, Palo town, surrounded by close family members. Funeral arrangement were still being prepared by his family.

“He fought so bravely until his last breath. I’m so proud of him,” said Dino Raagas, 45, his brother and caregiver.

“He was a good man who fought the good fight. God will bless his soul,” said FO3 Crizaldo Navarra, 50, a colleague of Raagas at the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Palo, where Raagas had worked since 1997.

In April, Raagas became a cause célèbre of sorts after he questioned the corporate citizenship of Novartis, the second-biggest drug company in the world, after the Switzerland-based drug firm told him to pay P30,000 a month for Tasigna  (generic name Nilotinib), a powerful but expensive cancer-fighting drug against chronic myelogenous leukemia, which Raagas had been afflicted with since age 30.

“Are they here to help their patients or are they here for profit?” Raagas asked then.

More than 4,000 netizens joined a petition on Change.org, an online progressive advocacy group, asking Novartis to allow Raagas access to Tasigna at a much lower price, knowing how he helped the community as a first responder when Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) ravaged eastern Visayas on Nov. 8 last year.

Despite his frail condition, Raagas, an 18-year veteran at the local BFP, volunteered to work on Nov. 7, a day before the massive storm struck Tacloban City and nearby environs, killing more than 6,000 residents around here.

Sensing public pressure, Novartis gave in and decided to offer Tasigna to Raagas at a much lower price, using third parties to defray the cost of the drug.

But Raagas’ brother Dino claimed that Tasigna was still beyond his brother’s reach. He said his brother’s frequent hospitalization drained his terminal leave credits worth P200,000, forcing him to pawn his personal jewelry, which included a gold ring he got when he joined the BFP in 1997.

“He asked me to pawn this ring so there would be enough money for his funeral expenses,” Dino said, fighting back tears.

Raagas’s wife Marilou was too distraught to comment but she has been grateful to all the groups and individuals, including the hundreds of netizens, that came in full force in support of her husband.

The 43-year-old widow even posted photos of their vacation on June 23 at idyllic Kalanggaman Island in Palompon town, Leyte province, on their Facebook page.

“It was a dream come true for him to visit this place. For Dario, this place was paradise,” said Eulalia Pineda, his aunt and another of his caregivers.

But his condition turned for the worse after his blood platelet count started dropping dramatically this September, forcing his hematologist Dr. Gemma Udtujan to stop prescribing Tasigna.

Even as he felt he was losing his battle with leukemia, Dario promised his aunt that he would bring her to Kalanggaman once he was healed of his disease.

“It’s all right. I have no regrets. Dario is in a better place now,” Pineda said, as she cast a forlorn look at the empty wooden bed used by her nephew before he died.