Any of us involved in conventional therapies has experienced the high prices charged by drug companies.
Two ideas that we all need to understand are:
1)"To combat this trend, Express Scripts and Medco say they are tightly managing their formularies with rules governing drug selection, usage and dose. Medco is enforcing what it calls step therapy rules, says Tim Wentworth, president of its Accredo unit. Patients are required to start treatment on the lowest-priced drug first, advancing to more expensive alternatives only if and when the cheaper drug fails to work"
Work with your onc at the beginning- do not wait to get involved until after your insurance has denied payment for a therapy.
2) "Aetna Inc., the big Hartford, Conn., health insurer, is exploring a "pay-for-performance" strategy in which a drug's price would be tied to efficacy. "Some people have spectacular results" taking pricey biotech drugs while "others have no results," says Edmund Pezalla, national medical director of Aetna Pharmacy Management. The idea, already being tried in Europe, is to negotiate drug prices based on whether a patient responds to a treatment. While details are scarce, some companies provide rebates in cash for product if patients don't achieve the desired therapeutic benefit."
Conventional therapies like thalidomide only work on 20%-30% of patients. It is in our best interest to learn more about this idea- I believe it will come and does not need to be a bad thing for mmers. I will look for more info on this issue. David
"Sharply rising expenditures for cancer drugs and other high-priced medicines are prompting employers, health plans and pharmacy-benefit managers to redouble efforts to rein in spending."
"In addition, Express Scripts said it paid more last year for existing cancer drugs. Celgene Corp.'s Thalomid, for instance, an oral drug for multiple myeloma, increased 27.2% to $4,742 per prescription in 2007 from $3,728 in 2006."
This article points to another reason to pursue low dose therapies.Â
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