For more information, contact:
Randye Retkin, Director, 212-613-5080, [email protected]
Julie Brandfield, Associate Director, 212-613-5083, [email protected]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LEGAL CARE PROVEN VALUABLE TO CANCER PATIENTS
Lawyers Solve Problems Doctors Cannot
NEW YORK, January 8, 2007 – According to a recent LegalHealth study co-funded by the Lance
Armstrong Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cancer patients
have significant legal problems that must be addressed to maintain quality of life during and after
cancer treatment and to promote continued access to healthcare. LegalHealth is a division of the
New York Legal Assistance Group, which provides free legal assistance to low-income, seriously ill
individuals.
Study results show that 83% of the 51 cancer patients surveyed said legal services helped
reduce their worries and stress, 51% said legal services had a positive effect on their financial
situation and 33% reported that legal services had a positive effect on their families or loved ones.
“The legal problems of cancer patients are almost identical to those of geriatric or HIV
patients for whom legal assistance is standard,” said LegalHealth Director Randye Retkin. “In fact,
the CDC has indicated that a referral to legal services is among the first things people need when
they learn that they are HIV positive.”
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Retkin continued: “Cancer patients deserve no less. Our survey results demonstrate that
lawyers should be part of the comprehensive team that supports people with cancer.”
To determine the effect of legal representation on patients’ lives, LegalHealth worked with
law students, a professional non-profit evaluator and a public health researcher specializing in cancer
to create and administer the survey of cancer patients assisted by LegalHealth attorneys.
The survey asked whether legal services helped reduce clients’ worries, affected clients’
financial situations, affected their families or loved ones, helped them keep medical appointments or
helped maintain treatment regimens. According to the study results, 22% of patients said that legal
services helped them keep medical appointments and 23% of patients said that legal services helped
them maintain treatment regimens.
Seventy-eight percent of cancer patients said that having cancer created their legal
difficulties. Whether trying to fend off creditors, struggling to continue to work despite their illness,
or dealing with the loss of a job, the financial implications of having cancer left many of these
patients in an extremely vulnerable state.
Those surveyed ranged in age from 29 to 82 with the majority between ages 40 and 69. At
least 43% were non-Hispanic white, although 21% did not indicate ethnicity. Eighty-four percent of
patients surveyed were U.S. citizens, 76% were women and 20% were married.
According to LegalHealth, patients and survivors need support from attorneys, doctors,
nurses and social workers to address the financial, emotional, practical and health consequences of
cancer.
“It’s a win-win-win for our patients and families, colleagues and cancer centers
themselves,” said Stewart Fleishman, MD, Director of Supportive Services for Continuum Cancer
Centers of New York. “We have fewer missed chemotherapy or radiation visits and can provide help
LegalHealth, page 3
when someone loses their medical or prescription coverage, or even their home. LegalHealth brings
vital legal services to our patients.”
One patient said of LegalHealth’s assistance: “It relieved stress and I felt so much better. I
had more time to deal with illness rather than worrying about how to pay my bills.”
“Knowing that I had help from what appeared to be a very competent legal person, that
always helps,” said another patient. “I don’t know why, but it seems that lawyers are respected. It’s
like having an ally.”
A patient for whom LegalHealth was able to reduce a $26,000 debt to $2,000, said: “I was
thinking I was going to have to declare bankruptcy.”
LegalHealth attorneys hold weekly or monthly legal clinics at New York City hospitals and
community-based facilities, six of which focus on cancer care. In 2005, they assisted approximately
2,000 patients, 500 of whom had cancer. LegalHealth also educates healthcare professionals to
recognize significant issues that may negatively impact medical outcomes but have a legal remedy,
such as loss of benefits, insurance coverage, employment concerns, debt management and end-oflife planning.
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The New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG), a not-for-profit organization founded in 1990, provides free
comprehensive civil legal services to poor and near-poor individuals and families residing in the five boroughs of New
York City who would otherwise be unable to access or afford legal assistance. NYLAG dedicates its services to
underserved and impoverished populations through direct representation, impact and class action litigation, consultation
and community education. Specialized legal assistance is provided for victims of domestic violence, immigrants, the
elderly, the chronically ill, children with special needs, Holocaust survivors and many other less fortunate members of
society.
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