Jori Fales with daughter Charleigh.

By Canadian Press

CP NewsAlert: B.C. Health Ministry restores drug funding for girl with rare disease

Jul 17, 2025 | 7:00 PM

VICTORIA — British Columbia’s Health Minister Josie Osborne says she has reinstated funding for nine-year-old Charleigh Pollock’s drug coverage.

The Vancouver Island girl suffers from Batten disease, and the drug Brineura costs around $1 million a year.

The British Columbia government had previously said in June 2025 it would no longer fund an expensive drug for Pollock, who has a rare and terminal condition.

Health Minister Josie Osborne said back in a June 2025 statement that Pollock’s condition with Batten Disease has reached the point where she meets the criteria to discontinue the use of Brineura.

The girl has been receiving the drug therapy since 2019 at a cost of about $1 million a year.

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She is the only person in the province, and one of 13 children in Canada, who has the genetic and fatal disorder that results in multiple seizures a day.

The B.C. Ministry of Health previously said that clinical evidence shows that once a patient has declined in motor skills and language functions by a certain amount, the drug is no longer a benefit in slowing the progression of the disease.

Osborne said a Canada Drug Agency review of the latest research on the girl’s disease found there was no evidence to support its continuing drug coverage, given the advanced stage of her condition.