The concern about overpriced cancer drugs
Since cancer was discovered by humans, the search for suitable ways of treatments has been a hard one. Even more hard sought is a possible cure.
However, for now, many are focused on the topic of overpriced cancer drugs. The questions of affordability come to mind in the face of rising prices, especially for those who could barely afford the cancer treatments in the first place.
The journal article on the concern
In response to the continually overpriced cancer drugs in the medical practice, a group of doctors came together to publish a piece in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings recently. In the piece, the doctors expressed their concern that the high costs for the drug treatments affect patient care, in helping them to battle cancer or treat it.
Among the one hundred and eighteen doctors that made up the group of people that expressed concern over the overpriced cancer drugs was Dr. Ayalew Tefferi of the Mayo Clinic. His work consists of working with leukemia patients, among other things.
To get a better idea of the issue on the high costs of the cancer drugs, picture that you made an income around the fifty thousand-dollar mark; and the cost of some of the drugs even with health insurance is nearly twice that much. This is not taking into consideration how much you would have to pay yourself, if health insurance cannot cover it.
The other side of the spectrum
For the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturing Association, they did not agree with what the doctors wrote in the article. They argued that it failed to take into consideration how much cancer drug cost figures into the demographic of the total spending on cancer treatments.
They also mentioned that to follow through with the suggestions mentioned in the article would inhibit rather encourage the positive changes the article hopes to achieve. To put it simply, it would render much of the progress made thus far in cancer treatment in vain.
In the end, both sides continue to make arguments for their sides and the future of cancer drug treatment costs. Neither are relenting in their arguments.
