A liver transplant might save him — if he can get the drug he needs to stay alive long enough

A health insurance dispute is preventing a North Carolina man from getting a cancer drug his doctors say is necessary.

The prognosis for John Middleton isn’t good.

The 43-year-old engineer from Asheville, North Carolina, has a type of bile duct cancer hidden inside his liver called cholangiocarcinoma. It’s rare, diagnosed in about 8,000 people each year in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society.

And it’s deadly. The National Cancer Institute says that just 22% of patients live five years after their diagnoses.

Cancer patient’s fight for doctor recommended treatment03:12Middleton has maybe 18 months.

“I know we’re not promised tomorrow,” he said, “but I feel like I’m watching a stopwatch that has an expiration on it. It’s very frightening.”