[ElaineM]

As I mentioned before in your earlier post several of our members were successfully treated for skin mets with Herceptin and Halaven.
Now Excuse me, but how dare your insurance company dictate what treatment a person can receive !!
Your wife's doctor can decide to prescribe something "off label" which means prescribing something a bit different than FDA recommendations. Doctors sometimes do that when they believe the slightly different combination will work better than what the FDA recommends. Doctors usually make those decisions based upon previous experience with other patients and their current patient's condition.
As long as your wife's doctor fills out the insurance paperwork for the Halaven correctly he or she does not have to even mention the Herceptin on that paperwork. The insurance company does not even have to know about the Herceptin.
I suggest you call Genetech at 1-800-821-8590 on Monday and ask how your wife can apply for financial help for the Herceptin. The above phone number might not be the correct department at Genetech, but you can ask the person who answers to transfer you to the correct department. Genetech phone numbers will also be listed on the Herceptin and Genetech websites. You might want to check that out over the weekend. There is an application process and It might take awhile to get it, but at least you can get the ball rolling right away. There are also other assistance programs. I suggest you call your local American Cancer Society office and ask how to go about applying for some of them. The doctor's office might have patient resource books in the waiting room or in the chemo room. One is published by Cure magazine and the other is published by Patient Resource group. There are usually lists of places you and your wife can apply for various kinds of financial assistance for drugs listed near the back of those guides.
Then your wife might want to ask her doctor to prescribe the Halaven immediately and add the Herceptin as soon as you can figure out the financial part.
If all else fails go to clinicaltrials.gov and see if there is a clinical trial for Herceptin and Halaven your wife can apply for. Your wife's doctor might be interested in helping her get into that if it is available. All drug expenses might be paid if going that route is an option. The Genetech trial line is 1-800-662-6728.
Doing something is usually better than waiting for insurance companies and doing nothing while waiting.