‘Declining Fast’: Dilbert Creator Pleads With Trump for Help Forcing Insurance Company To Provide Cancer Treatment

Scott Adams says he is in desperate need of a new prostate cancer drug that he was supposed to start receiving but for delays caused by his insurance company’s scheduling department.

AP/Marcio Jose Sanchez
Scott Adams, creator of the comic strip Dilbert. AP/Marcio Jose Sanchez

The creator of the Dilbert cartoon and avid President Trump supporter, Scott Adams, earned an assist from the White House on Sunday after he issued a public appeal asking for the president to intervene with his health insurance company and help kick-start a new treatment for his fast-moving and drug-resistant prostate cancer.

Mr. Adams, who said he is “declining fast,” says he was headed to the emergency room on Sunday, hours after issuing an appeal for the president’s assistance with Kaiser of Northern California.

“On Monday, I will ask President Trump, via X, to help save my life. He offered to help me if I needed it. I need it,” he wrote. “ My healthcare provider, Kaiser of Northern California, has approved my application to receive a newly FDA-approved drug called Pluvicto. But they have dropped the ball in scheduling the brief IV to administer it and I can’t seem to fix that.” 

“I am declining fast. I will ask President Trump if he can get Kaiser of Northern California to respond and schedule it for Monday. That will give me a fighting chance to stick around on this planet a little bit longer. It is not a cure, but it does give good results to many people.”

In response to the post, the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., wrote Sunday that he would make sure to let his father know about the situation. Shortly afterward, the secretary for health and human services, Robert Kennedy Jr., reached out to him. 

“Scott. How do I reach you? The President wants to help,” Mr. Kennedy wrote, earning praise from fans for the fast response.

Approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2022, Pluvicto is used to treat advanced prostate cancer that contains the prostate-specific membrane antigen and is resistant to hormone therapy and chemotherapy. A regular course of six IV infusions over six weeks is supposed to deliver radiation directly to cancer cells, helping to slow tumor growth and spread.

The drug’s maker, Novartis, said that coupled with standard care, the drug has reduced the risk of progression or death by 28 percent compared to standard therapy alone. Pluvicto costs approximately $48,533 per dose in the United States, with a full six-dose course totaling around $291,198 before insurance or discounts. 

With new patients being prescribed the drug increasing by 60 percent in the second quarter of 2025 over the first, Novartis reports Pluvicto generated $454 million in sales in the second quarter of 2025. It is seeking to double the number of patients who can receive Pluvicto before the end of the year. 

Mr. Adams announced his cancer diagnosis in May, the day after President Joe Biden announced that he had the same type of cancer. The disease has spread to Mr. Adams’s bones, just as it has for the former president. 

Mr. Adams has said he will not recover from the disease, which has forced him to use a walker and causes intense and constant pain, but argues that the injectable drug can slow the progression. 

As millions of Americans await a deal to reopen the government, shuttered by arguments over extending government subsidies to cover health insurance premiums this year, Kaiser said it will cover the cost of Pluvicto assuming that patients meet eligibility requirements.

While awaiting a date for his treatment, Mr. Adams received many messages of support from fellow media personalities, including Megyn Kelly and Jack Posobiec, who appealed to Kaiser to break through the bureaucratic paperwork.
“Imagine how bad healthcare has gotten in America where you need to beg the President to get them to do their job,” wrote conservative political commentator Joey Mannarino.


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