Why is $3 billion worth of cancer drugs being thrown away?

[guno]

Big pharma is still making their money, no matter what. And everyone wonders why healthcare cost are going through the roof




Most shoppers wouldn't buy a gallon of milk if they thought they could only drink a pint's worth. So why are hospitals and clinics buying larger amounts of cancer therapies than they can use, forcing them to throw these expensive drugs in the trash?

The answer, according to a new study, is that many of the top cancer drugs in the United States are only available in single-dose vials, and often that dose is more than the average patient needs. The result is an estimated $3 billion in overspending in the health care system each year, a cost that gets passed on to taxpayers and patients.




Cancer drugs thrown away: Why $3 billion in waste? - CNN.com

 

[CrusaderFrank]

If only Obama was in control of our healthcare

If only...

 

[guno]

If only Obama was in control of our healthcare

If only...

You are a real strunz short bus frankie

 

[TNHarley]

Quit supporting corporatists or quit bitching

 

[Arianrhod]

Big pharma is still making their money, no matter what. And everyone wonders why healthcare cost are going through the roof




Most shoppers wouldn't buy a gallon of milk if they thought they could only drink a pint's worth. So why are hospitals and clinics buying larger amounts of cancer therapies than they can use, forcing them to throw these expensive drugs in the trash?

The answer, according to a new study, is that many of the top cancer drugs in the United States are only available in single-dose vials, and often that dose is more than the average patient needs. The result is an estimated $3 billion in overspending in the health care system each year, a cost that gets passed on to taxpayers and patients.




Cancer drugs thrown away: Why $3 billion in waste? - CNN.com

This is where the new rules for insurers will come into play. Before they could cap a cancer patient's coverage so they didn't care about the waste. Now that they're required to cover extensive treatments, expect them to have a "word" with the pharma companies.

 

[Sun Devil 92]

Big pharma is still making their money, no matter what. And everyone wonders why healthcare cost are going through the roof




Most shoppers wouldn't buy a gallon of milk if they thought they could only drink a pint's worth. So why are hospitals and clinics buying larger amounts of cancer therapies than they can use, forcing them to throw these expensive drugs in the trash?

The answer, according to a new study, is that many of the top cancer drugs in the United States are only available in single-dose vials, and often that dose is more than the average patient needs. The result is an estimated $3 billion in overspending in the health care system each year, a cost that gets passed on to taxpayers and patients.




Cancer drugs thrown away: Why $3 billion in waste? - CNN.com

As much as I think you are a hack most of the time........

This kind of information is extremely useful.

Let me say thank you for posting this.

 

[Sun Devil 92]

Big pharma is still making their money, no matter what. And everyone wonders why healthcare cost are going through the roof




Most shoppers wouldn't buy a gallon of milk if they thought they could only drink a pint's worth. So why are hospitals and clinics buying larger amounts of cancer therapies than they can use, forcing them to throw these expensive drugs in the trash?

The answer, according to a new study, is that many of the top cancer drugs in the United States are only available in single-dose vials, and often that dose is more than the average patient needs. The result is an estimated $3 billion in overspending in the health care system each year, a cost that gets passed on to taxpayers and patients.




Cancer drugs thrown away: Why $3 billion in waste? - CNN.com

This is where the new rules for insurers will come into play. Before they could cap a cancer patient's coverage so they didn't care about the waste. Now that they're required to cover extensive treatments, expect them to have a "word" with the pharma companies.

If only Obama was in control of our healthcare

If only...

What has that got to do with anything ?

I would expect that the bottom line here is that this kind of waste has been going on for a long long time.

Seems pretty stupid to be throwing medications down the drain like that....I did not see a technical reason to waste this stuff described in the article.

 

[Arianrhod]

There is no technical reason, just a monetary one:

Bach and his colleagues estimate that the companies producing the top 20 cancer medicines, including Genentech, Takeda and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, will make nearly $2 billion this year just from wasted drops of these most common cancer drugs. And doctors and hospitals will make $1 billion in markup fees from these tossed treatments.

This is why it's incumbent on the insurers to say "We can cut our own costs if we pressure the pharma companies to stop encouraging waste. They're only doing it to make more profits for themselves."

 

[Sun Devil 92]

Blah blah blah blah blah.......

 

[Tommy Tainant]

There is no technical reason, just a monetary one:

Bach and his colleagues estimate that the companies producing the top 20 cancer medicines, including Genentech, Takeda and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, will make nearly $2 billion this year just from wasted drops of these most common cancer drugs. And doctors and hospitals will make $1 billion in markup fees from these tossed treatments.

This is why it's incumbent on the insurers to say "We can cut our own costs if we pressure the pharma companies to stop encouraging waste. They're only doing it to make more profits for themselves."

So the drugs are marked up by the hospital before the patient gets the dose ?
Wow !

 

[Arianrhod]

There is no technical reason, just a monetary one:

Bach and his colleagues estimate that the companies producing the top 20 cancer medicines, including Genentech, Takeda and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, will make nearly $2 billion this year just from wasted drops of these most common cancer drugs. And doctors and hospitals will make $1 billion in markup fees from these tossed treatments.

This is why it's incumbent on the insurers to say "We can cut our own costs if we pressure the pharma companies to stop encouraging waste. They're only doing it to make more profits for themselves."

So the drugs are marked up by the hospital before the patient gets the dose ?
Wow !

It's one way for hospitals to recoup revenue lost to patients who can't or won't pay their bills. At best it can be argued that it enables them to remain open rather than going bankrupt and shutting down; at worst it's a cynical acknowledgment that hospital administrators see their work as selling a commodity.

 

[Tommy Tainant]

The NHS is regionalised in the UK. In England there is a fixed nominal charge for prescriptions but they are free in Wales.
There is no charge for any drugs dispensed in the hospital.
Its really complicated isnt it ?

 

[Arianrhod]

The NHS is regionalised in the UK. In England there is a fixed nominal charge for prescriptions but they are free in Wales.
There is no charge for any drugs dispensed in the hospital.
Its really complicated isnt it ?

The underlying problem is that there really isn't a "United" States of America. It's 50 little fiefdoms that make their own rules and corporate entities like hospitals learn to work within them so that they turn a profit.

 

[Sun Devil 92]

There i

The NHS is regionalised in the UK. In England there is a fixed nominal charge for prescriptions but they are free in Wales.
There is no charge for any drugs dispensed in the hospital.
Its really complicated isnt it ?

The complication would be in tracking who pays for it.

 

[Tommy Tainant]

I dont know why this couldnt be sorted very quickly.
If the government can fake the moon landings they are well capable of buying some pills on the cheap.

 

[Sun Devil 92]

I dont know why this couldnt be sorted very quickly.
If the government can fake the moon landings they are well capable of buying some pills on the cheap.

And hows that ?

And who do you buy your drugs from anyway ?

 

[Tommy Tainant]

The same people that US healthcare companies buy from.Ours are a lot cheaper apparently.

 

[Arianrhod]

The same people that US healthcare companies buy from.Ours are a lot cheaper apparently.

Exactly. American drugs are manufactured overseas and sold everywhere except in the U.S. at reasonable prices. And the drug companies do their damnedest to avoid taxes, too:

Pfizer and Allergan merge in $160B tax inversion deal

They get away with it because people like Sun Devil .

 

[Sun Devil 92]

The same people that US healthcare companies buy from.Ours are a lot cheaper apparently.

You mean you pay less.

You might want to look into how Canada used to control their drug costs....

Like using older technologies.

 

[Arianrhod]

The same people that US healthcare companies buy from.Ours are a lot cheaper apparently.

You mean you pay less.

You might want to look into how Canada used to control their drug costs....

Like using older technologies.

Link?