Wisconsin high school football coach who was unable to obtain chemotherapy drugs due to nationwide shortage dies at age 60

usa news

by Richard Pollina

A popular Wisconsin high school football coach has died from stage 4 cancer after a national shortage of the life-saving chemotherapy drugs needed to treat his condition made them unavailable.

Jeff Bolle, varsity football and baseball coach at Marquette University High School in Milwaukee, died in December at the age of 60 after a battle with cancer.

Bolle thought he made the adjustment during a workout in October 2022.

However, after several months of pain, he went to see a doctor and was diagnosed with bile duct cancer. According to TODAY.com, it is a rare but aggressive cancer with a low survival rate.

The Wisconsin native began chemotherapy in October 2023, with doctors hoping drugs and surgery would extend his life.

Doctors were able to successfully remove most of the cancerous tumor that was festering next to his liver, and the high school counselor is in good spirits as he underwent four rounds of chemotherapy before the unthinkable happened. There are signs.

A nationwide shortage of cisplatin, a key chemotherapy drug he was taking, meant he could no longer continue treatment in May 2023.

He was forced to quit with two rounds left to complete treatment.

“His cancer was growing, and the cancer was putting more pressure on the bile ducts, so they were becoming compromised. He got really sick. It was terrible,” said his wife, Connie Ball. told the magazine.

“He couldn't take cisplatin (again).”

Unfortunately, in September, “there wasn't really anything else they could do. It hurt to hear that,” Connie Ball said.

“There was no immunotherapy. There was no other chemotherapy,” she said.

By then, the University of Central Florida graduate had had to leave his job as a school counselor, but his love for coaching persisted, even during the darkest days.

He continued to coach football and showed up to his players' games multiple times a week.

“Jeff loved coaching and teaching and had the patience and skill to connect and guide students from all walks of life with compassion and purpose,” his obituary said.

His love for coaching was so strong that when his cancer worsened, he attended games and even sat on the sidelines in a wheelchair.

“I don't know how Jeff did it. He could barely stand up straight. At that point, he was probably down to about 140 pounds,” Connie Ball said. Ta.

Connie Bolle said she was reviewing game movies on her laptop while in intensive care.

“Marquette University High School ended up winning the Division I state championship football title, but they weren't expected to (win),” she told the outlet. “Jeff could play in every game.”

She credits her husband's efforts to help the players finish that season, which saved his life.

“He knew how important it was to high school students,” she says. “Some of our seniors have been traveling with Jeff for four years.”

Connie Ball said his concern for others shone through until the last days of his life while he was in hospice care.

“He really cared about other people not getting chemo drugs,” she says. “He would still be sad that people are still dealing with this issue.”

Jeff Bolle passed away on December 29, 2023, seven months later without receiving life-saving drug treatment.

“I always wonder, 'What would have happened if we had given him cisplatin? Would that have slowed the progression of his cancer?'” Connie Ball told TODAY.

Jeff Bolle is just one of thousands of cancer patients struggling to obtain chemotherapy drugs as the U.S. faces the worst chemotherapy shortage in history. .

At least four chemotherapy drugs (methotrexate, pulvict, cisplatin, and carboplatin) have been and remain on the Food and Drug Administration's drug shortage list since Jeff Borre's death.

In October, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network surveyed 29 cancer centers across the country and found that 72% reported a shortage of the chemotherapy drug carboplatin, and 59% still had a shortage of cisplatin. did.

Both drugs are used to treat a variety of cancers.

The chemotherapy drugs hardest hit are those commonly used for patients with incurable cancers and those used for tumor imaging, said Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer of the American Cancer Society. spoke today.

According to the FDA's list, 15 oncology drugs are currently in short supply as of April 2024.

“We recognize the potential impact that the unavailability of certain products can have on healthcare professionals and patients,” the FDA said in a statement provided to TODAY.com.

“Authorities do not manufacture medicines, require pharmaceutical companies to manufacture medicines, increase the production of medicines, or require pharmaceutical companies to choose who (among legal purchasers) to sell their products to. “The public should be reassured that FDA is working with numerous manufacturers in their supply chains to understand, mitigate, and prevent or mitigate the effects of intermittent or reduced supplies of certain products.” We work closely with contractors and other companies. ”