How Would YOU Feel?
Let's say you were diagnosed with breast cancer or lung cancer. And let's say you decide to participate in a clinical trial testing a new therapeutic compound - an antibody - that would work by disrupting the blood supply of the tumor cells in your body. You feel it's quite a risk because it's not known for sure whether or not the therapy will work and, even if it does, what the side effects will be. But you convince yourself that, in addition to the possibility that the new therapy might help you, deep down you also want to help future cancer patients by volunteering for this study.
You're nervous and uncomfortable, but you are enrolled in the clinical trial. Your cancer progresses, very slowly, causing you to wonder whether you're doing the right thing. Maybe you should try a very aggressive approach that is already accepted as the standard. Yes, the side effects will probably be unpleasant, but at least you know what to expect and you have some idea of how effective the treatment will be.
The clinical trial is finished. Your participation has ended. You're relieved because your anxiety has diminished, but you still wonder whether or not you made the right decision. Then you decide that you DID make the right decision because you helped contribute to medical science. Others will benefit because you volunteered to take a risk.
Then you find out that the company that sponsored the clinical trial is planning to charge a lot for this new treatment. A lot. Like, over $100,000 per patient! How would you feel about your "contribution" then?
Last week the New York Times reported that Genentech, Inc plans to charge as much for its cancer compound Avastin. Let me know what you think.
-Joe
Related Topics: Clinical Trials: Cutting Edge Care, Breakthroughs in Breast Cancer Treatments
Technorati Tags: cancer, cancertreatment, cancerdrugs, genentech, avastin, clinicaltrial
You're nervous and uncomfortable, but you are enrolled in the clinical trial. Your cancer progresses, very slowly, causing you to wonder whether you're doing the right thing. Maybe you should try a very aggressive approach that is already accepted as the standard. Yes, the side effects will probably be unpleasant, but at least you know what to expect and you have some idea of how effective the treatment will be.
The clinical trial is finished. Your participation has ended. You're relieved because your anxiety has diminished, but you still wonder whether or not you made the right decision. Then you decide that you DID make the right decision because you helped contribute to medical science. Others will benefit because you volunteered to take a risk.
Then you find out that the company that sponsored the clinical trial is planning to charge a lot for this new treatment. A lot. Like, over $100,000 per patient! How would you feel about your "contribution" then?
Last week the New York Times reported that Genentech, Inc plans to charge as much for its cancer compound Avastin. Let me know what you think.
-Joe
Related Topics: Clinical Trials: Cutting Edge Care, Breakthroughs in Breast Cancer Treatments
Technorati Tags: cancer, cancertreatment, cancerdrugs, genentech, avastin, clinicaltrial
4 Comments:
my husband is taking avastin,,has for 6 treatments..we have not realized that cost..i will check it out...his cancer has been responding but his blood pressure is up..he is also taking cysplatin and taxotere..has metastatic melanoma... thanks for your info..
If I were in a clinical trial and it worked well, I will not be too concernned about how much the company charges for the sucessful medication. I will just be happy that I took a risk and did not have to pay lots of money.
I am a nurse at St Louis University and we do trials of medications all the time. I know that the initial costs of new medications are staggering, but by the time all the research has been paid for and the patents are in place it really is miniscule if it ends up saving lives. As far as not being able to afford the new medication; most drug companies have low income assistance for prescription drugs. Also most insurance companies will cover even non-formulary drugs with a well worded letter of medical necessity.
Better to have an expensive affective drug than no drug at all.
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