A Cancer Drug's Big Price Rise Disturbs Doctors and Patients

New York Times ^ | 12 March 2006 | Alex Berenson

[The Great RJ]

My brother-in-law was on Avastin...fortunately as part of a clinical trial. His current cancer therapy rings in at $7,000/month. Initially his insurance company balked at paying the cost, but now is picking up at least part of the tab.

[jdm]

This is why you move to Cuba. /s

[bybybill]

This will come as a schock to some freepers, but, the cost of RX drugs will drop like a rock when we can get the lawyers out of the health care biz

[The Cuban]

Yea that's it, the hydrogen mustard litigation caused the over 500% price rise. It may come a schock to some freepers, but the cost of RX drugs will rise like a ballon when companies bilk patients that have no other options.

[CheyennePress]

While the sarcasm is noted, the US could learn something from Cuba's healthcare system. It's emphasis on preventative medicine is frankly one that kicks the daylights out of our "treat it after is shows up" mentality.

Just as a for instance, treating patients with elevated insulin levels who haven't yet experienced a noted rise in blood sugar has numerous health benefits but is not practiced much here... yet.

[mc6809e]

It may come a schock to some freepers, but the cost of RX drugs will rise like a ballon when companies bilk patients that have no other options.

What shocks me is that no other producer has come online to provide this drug. If this company is really making so much easy money, where are the competitors? There must be more to the story.

[mc6809e]

It may come a schock to some freepers, but the cost of RX drugs will rise like a ballon when companies bilk patients that have no other options.

What shocks me is that no other producer has come online to provide this drug. If this company is really making so much easy money, where are the competitors? There must be more to the story.

[From many - one.]

Read the story.

Only one company has the right to manfacture it.

[pgkdan]

I have RCC (Kidney Cancer) and was going to talk about the high cost of Avastin...it's not yet been approved for RCC so patients are having to tackle the costs themselves, $7,000 to $14,000 a month. Nexavar and Sutent cost in the neighborhood of $7500 a month. No wonder insurance companies balk. I appreciate the cost of R&D and I'm grateful that companies are willing to do it, but geez, c'mon. $14,000 for 60 400 mg tablets?

[AlaninSA]

No, the first guy was right. The cost of drugs is severely impacted by the amount of legal staff needed (as well as the amount of statutory-required staff) to produce products.

Do you have any idea how many people are required to make just one tablet?

The answer may surprise you.

[beef]

If the drug is 60 years old, and assuming it doesn't cost a fortune to manufacture, this would be a niche opportunity for a manufacturer of generic pharmaceuticals. Unless, of course, there is a unusual liability risk, or regulatory problems, or other artificial barriers.

[The Cuban]

Understood, but all things being equal nothing changed overnight for this 60+ year old generic drug other than the change of ownership. There is zero evidence ofcorrelation between the astronomical price rise and litigation, which, of course, existed before it was sold to the new company.

[muir_redwoods]

My wife had cancer from 12/97 until it killed her in 3/04. Her chemo treatments, fully covered by insurance, cost between $9k and $12k each and she got them every three weeks. For awhile I was giving her intramuscular injections at $200/each, one-a-day for 10 days after each chemo.

Lawyers add to the cost of drugs and treatment, paying doctors millions a year in salary, which is what a top-tier oncologist makes, probably adds to the cost as well.

I don't know what the solution is but it seems like a lot of money to pay for chemicals that can't possibly cost that much to produce. I understand research is expensive but my wife donated her time and well-being on more than a few drug trials.

[beef]

Only one company has the right to manfacture it.

 Wrong. The patents have long expired. Anyone can make it, they just can't call it Mustragen.

 

[Polybius]

While the sarcasm is noted, the US could learn something from Cuba's healthcare system. It's emphasis on preventative medicine is frankly one that kicks the daylights out of our "treat it after is shows up" mentality.

Cuba's healthcare system is nothing more than a large number of poorly trained practitioners who do not have the resources to deliver either preventive or theraputic medicine.

The emphasis of Cuba's "healthcare system" is to generate propaganda and the illusion of healthcare that is "free".

[mc6809e]

I see what's going on now.

This drug is produced for about 270 people (do the math) and the total sales are about $540,000/year. That's sales, not profit.

It's hard to run a business making a substance that used to be a chemical weapon when the numbers are so low.

I suspect the previous producers thought about raising prices to compensate, but realized demand might drop to nothing. This new company disagrees and thinks they can make it profitable to produce this drug by raising prices.

Now all this doesn't help those involved. They got "hooked" on a substance that was under-priced by the previous maker and now the price goes up.

I'm not sure there's any solution to this dilemma. People have to get paid if you want them to make this stuff. The previous bunch didn't think it was worth it.

The only solution might be government subsidy.

[goodnesswins]

Lawyers AND the GOVERNMENT!

[Prokopton]

Remember, you are also subsidizing the costs for virtually every other country which gets the same drugs for lower prices. Our politicians, including the current administration, have told us it is right for us to subsidize low prices for the Canadians, the British, the Australians, et al. What do you think?

[Jim Noble]

paying doctors millions a year in salary, which is what a top-tier oncologist makes, probably adds to the cost as well.

I don't know what your definition of a "top-tier oncologist" is, but the average salary of an oncologist is $232 000 and the 75%ile is $298 000, according to the Watson-Wyatt survey, current through February 2006.

The head clinicians at NCI, Sloan-Kettering, and MD Anderson likely make much less.