May I scream, please? (cost of drugs)

January 23, 2007

I paid a visit to http://ralphmoss.com, and came across this tidbit,

in the context of a longer article on some new drugs for colorectal

cancer.

It makes me want to scream. The insane cost of these drugs would be

bad enough if they cured people, but they don't do that either.

Side effects include intestinal perforations and wounds opening.

Quote:

One thing is certain: these new agents will tremendously increase

the cost of treating colorectal cancer, at a time when both society

and individuals can ill afford such an increase. " This will be

certainly reflected in the cost of health care at the end of the

year, " said Dr. Heinz-Josef Lenz, a colon cancer expert at the

University of Southern California. Genentech, which lost no time in

shipping Avastin, will charge about $4,400 per patient per month for

the new drug. Data from clinical trials suggest that it will be used

for about 10 months (the expected survival time of patients who take

it), thereby adding another $44,000 to the medical bill of the

average colorectal cancer patient.

" We think it's a fair price, and we think our customers will see it

that way, " said Ian Clark, a senior vice president at Genentech. One

wonders, since $44,000 is equal to the annual gross income of the

average American household ($43,057 in 2002). The cost for the

competing new drug Erbitux will be $10,000 a month, but Erbitux will

probably be used for shorter periods of time because it was approved

only as a last-ditch treatment (Pollack 2004). It will be morally

difficult for insurance companies to deny patients drugs that might

increase their survival by a few months. On the other hand, patients

are unlikely to be cured and the annual cost to society will soar to

the tune of billions more dollars. And this estimate does not

include the increased cost of treating some of the side effects of

these new regimens. Meanwhile, since Avastin's meteoric rise,

Genentech's stock has more than tripled in value. >

No wonder the research on Graviola was halted when it became clear

that only the whole plant worked.

Ien in the Kootenays

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