In "Questioning a new $30,000 a-month drug" a new form of chemotherapy has been released and it costs $30,000 per month. The FDA recently passed the drug due to its positive affects in tumor size. The drug Fotolyn has significantly shown reductions in tumor size in patients with aggressive blood cancers. Although the drug is successful in decreasing the size of tumors among patients, the results are not permanent. Also, the drug has only been shown to increase the longevity of patients by a few months.
One insurance provider, UnitedHealth Care is charging way too much. A spokesman for UnitedHealth care called the drug Fotolyn "unconscionable." He claims that Fotolyn would cost as much in one year, as it would take to treat a person from diagnosis till death. And although Fotolyn is being seen as an overpriced drug, there are many other forms of chemotherapy that cost 3 times that amount.
The top researchers and scientists try everyday to come up with new drugs to help patients diagnosed with cancer. We have not yet found a form a chemotherapy that has permanent affects, but we are getting close. There are the lucky patients who benefit from such drugs a Fotolyn and who go into remission. But there are also patients who use the chemotherapy that is recommended to them, and still do not survive. Cancer is a dangerous disease, and every victim diagnosed with this disease should be given every opportunity to survive if possible. So why is it okay to charge so much for medicine? Don't these corporations already obtain government grants and special funding? And even though there is growing concern about health care costs, the price for cancer treatments continues to rise. Thats exactly why we're in the position that we are in with health care. Most patients with pre-existing conditions are turned away from recieving new health care. Mainly because the cost of curing the patient outways the profit that insurance companys benefit from the patient.
The government needs to hurry up and get the health care plan in motion, so not only will it be possible for patients in need to afford their medications/chemotherapy, but also so they won't find themselves having to take out loans or mortage their homes due to the difference that their insurance won't cover. Everyone deserves the right to benefit from new medicines discovered, because it shouldn't have to depend on how much money you have, just to live.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I couldnt agree more with Jennifer. Thirty thousand dollars a month? How is that even possible? Im curious to see the break down of where that money would go and if it actually costs that much to make or how many people and how much they are pocketing. Nobody should have to pay that much just to have a chance to be healthy. Im sure if you were to put those people in a cancer patients shoes they would realize how ridiculous it really is. Thats a major problem with Americans. Every major corporate or insurance company is out to take advantage sick people because even though they know they cant afford it they will work really hard to pay it just to be able to live. Insurance companies and subscribers should all work together and find an in between on these things. They are suppposed to be there for us and keep us healthy not strip you of everything you own.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, in her recent blog, states that the government should speed up its process of reforming health care due to the high costs of medication. She specifically talks about a new rare cancer fighting drug called Fotolyn, which costs thirty thousand per month of treatment. She declares that companies are charging way too much for these new drugs and that “Everyone deserves the right to benefit from new medicines discovered, because it shouldn't have to depend on how much money you have, just to live”. As Jennifer posits, “So why is it okay to charge so much for medicine?” she fails to realize that the company made a “significant investment to develop the first approved drug for this type of cancer”(Pollack,NewYorkTimes). In her own blog she states, “Although the drug is successful in decreasing the size of tumors among patients, the results are not permanent. Also, the drug has only been shown to increase the longevity of patients by a few months”. Is sixty thousand dollars worth a mere two months? I do agree with Jennifer that the government should speed up its process on the health care issue, but if we do achieve universal health care, I would hope that our taxpayer money isn’t going to be invested into something that will most likely fail.
ReplyDelete