this aticle was published
May 6, 2014 10:00 PM MT
Cancer Doctors Join Insurers in U.S. Drug-Cost Revolt
The backlash over surging drug prices is starting to take hold.
With the average cost of branded cancer drugs doubling over the past decade to about
$10,000 per month in the US ~ doctors, insurers and politicians are all moving in
different ways to pressure drugmakers on pricing.
Global spending on cancer drugs alone rose 28 percent to $91 billion in 2013 from
$71 billion in 2008, according to a report by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics,
the group that also reported the monthly cost rise.
Those findings support a Bloomberg review of drug prices reported on May 1 that
found dozens of medicines for ailments ranging from cancer to multiple sclerosis,
diabetes and high cholesterol have doubled or more in price since late 2007. The
Bloomberg review used data supplied by DRX, a Los Angeles-based company that
provides drug comparison information.
Increases among cancer drugs come about in two ways, through price boosts
on older cancer pills, as well as a rising ceiling for medicines newly on the market.
“We are looking at a drug pricing bubble,” said Leonard Saltz, chief of the
gastrointestinal oncology service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, who in
2012 led a rebellion at his hospital against an expensive cancer drug, refusing to
put it on the formulary because of its price. “At what point do we say this is
more than society can afford?”
this is link to entire article
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This 2nd article PROVES how much pricing range these Drug Co. Have
Sanofi Halves Price of Cancer Drug Zaltrap After Sloan-Kettering Rejection
By ANDREW POLLACK Published: November 8, 2012
In an unusual move, a big drug company said on Thursday that it would effectively cut in half the price of a new cancer drug after a leading cancer center said it would not use the drug because it was too expensive.
The move — announced by Sanofi for the colon cancer drug Zaltrap — could be a sign of resistance to the unfettered increase in the prices of cancer drugs, some of which cost more than $100,000 a year and increase survival by a few months at best.
Zaltrap came to market in August at a price of about $11,000 a month. Soon after,
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York decided not to use the drug, saying it was twice as
expensive but no more effective than a similar medicine, Avastin from Genentech. Both drugs improved
median survival by 1.4 months, doctors there said.
this is link to entire article - which is incredible.. .. ..
May 6, 2014 10:00 PM MT
Cancer Doctors Join Insurers in U.S. Drug-Cost Revolt
The backlash over surging drug prices is starting to take hold.
With the average cost of branded cancer drugs doubling over the past decade to about
$10,000 per month in the US ~ doctors, insurers and politicians are all moving in
different ways to pressure drugmakers on pricing.
Global spending on cancer drugs alone rose 28 percent to $91 billion in 2013 from
$71 billion in 2008, according to a report by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics,
the group that also reported the monthly cost rise.
Those findings support a Bloomberg review of drug prices reported on May 1 that
found dozens of medicines for ailments ranging from cancer to multiple sclerosis,
diabetes and high cholesterol have doubled or more in price since late 2007. The
Bloomberg review used data supplied by DRX, a Los Angeles-based company that
provides drug comparison information.
Increases among cancer drugs come about in two ways, through price boosts
on older cancer pills, as well as a rising ceiling for medicines newly on the market.
“We are looking at a drug pricing bubble,” said Leonard Saltz, chief of the
gastrointestinal oncology service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, who in
2012 led a rebellion at his hospital against an expensive cancer drug, refusing to
put it on the formulary because of its price. “At what point do we say this is
more than society can afford?”
this is link to entire article
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
This 2nd article PROVES how much pricing range these Drug Co. Have
Sanofi Halves Price of Cancer Drug Zaltrap After Sloan-Kettering Rejection
By ANDREW POLLACK Published: November 8, 2012
In an unusual move, a big drug company said on Thursday that it would effectively cut in half the price of a new cancer drug after a leading cancer center said it would not use the drug because it was too expensive.
The move — announced by Sanofi for the colon cancer drug Zaltrap — could be a sign of resistance to the unfettered increase in the prices of cancer drugs, some of which cost more than $100,000 a year and increase survival by a few months at best.
Zaltrap came to market in August at a price of about $11,000 a month. Soon after,
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York decided not to use the drug, saying it was twice as
expensive but no more effective than a similar medicine, Avastin from Genentech. Both drugs improved
median survival by 1.4 months, doctors there said.
this is link to entire article - which is incredible.. .. ..