TORONTO - Ontario is extending its funding of a potentially life-saving drug for cancer patients, just two months after the province's ombudsman accused the government of verging on cruelty by cutting off funding after 16 treatments.

Ontario will now fund Avastin for up to 24 two-week treatments if medical evidence shows the disease hasn't progressed, Health Minister Deb Matthews said Sunday in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Further treatments may be funded based on advice from the patient's doctor or oncologist, she added.

Colorectal cancer patients who have already paid out of their own pocket for the drug, which can cost about $3,000 per treatment, will not be reimbursed, the minister said.

The government was able to extend funding of Avastin because it negotiated a better price with its manufacturer, Roche, after starting talks in May, she said.

The decision was based on "cost and the effectiveness of the drug," Matthews added.

"The ombudsman certainly brought attention to it, but I have to say, this is an example of the system working," she said.

Ombudsman Andre Marin said he was "thrilled" that the government changed its mind on a hard cap for Avastin, which his September report criticized as wrong, unreasonable, and "verges on cruelty."

Several colorectal cancer patients were forced to pay for Avastin out of their own pockets or stop treatment after reaching the government's arbitrary limit, he said.

His report, "A Vast Injustice," seemed to catch the Health Ministry -- which was already embroiled in a spending scandal at eHealth Ontario -- completely off-guard, Marin said.

"I think that the ministry officials were like deer caught in headlights," he said in an interview.

"They were under siege. It was chaotic over there. They were dealing with eHealth. And it just never got a fair shake, because how they were treating Avastin was absolutely absurd and indefensible."

After a heated debate with then-health minister David Caplan in the wake of his September report, Marin said he waited to let "cooler heads prevail," then approached Matthews and urged her to reconsider the government's response.

"The old rule was capricious, it was arbitrary, it was a line in the sand which was cutting off the lifeline for those fighting colon cancer," he said.

"Money was never an issue. The ministry never told us, 'Oh, it's because we can't afford Avastin.' "

In his report, Marin noted that seven provinces cover the cost of Avastin, but only Ontario had a hard cap on the number of publicly-funded treatments.

Some cancer patients and their families had vowed to fight the government to get rid of the cap on Avastin, which they said was costing them their homes and retirement savings.

Marin's report called on the government to lift the cap and pay for treatment on a case-by-case basis for patients doing well on the drug, and compensate patients who have paid to continue with the treatment.

Caplan had countered that his government based its funding cap on three clinical studies that provided "firm and good advice" about the effectiveness and cost of Avastin, and that he'd reconsider the cap if there is new medical evidence to justify the extension.

Marin launched his investigation in June after patients and the Progressive Conservatives complained that the 16-cycle limit appeared to be arbitrary.

About 22,000 Canadians are diagnosed with colon cancer each year -- 8,100 in Ontario.

The Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada says roughly 2,400 of the people diagnosed in the province are getting some kind of chemotherapy with or without Avastin.

According to government figures, the average length of survival for people who receive Avastin with other chemotherapy is close to two years, compared to 15 months without the drug.

Last year, Ontario spent $11.5 million on Avastin treatment. The government estimates that it will spend an additional $5 million a year due to the expanded treatment and the expected growth in number of patients.