Re: Re: Spending $93,000 to extend life four months

[Guest guest]

Clowes wrote:

> I thought I suggested that on April 1. ...

Ah, but we thought you were only foolin'.

However, I've said my piece(s) and will say no more.

Alan

[Guest guest]

I would question why this drug costs $93,000. These medicine costs are out of

control, much like the drug now sold to help prevent premature births.

Established drug went from $20 to $1600 a dose when a major drug co. became the

sole supplier. Knowing medicaid pays the freight.

[Guest guest]

Perhaps it is because it took 10 years to develop and get approved? Or maybe it has something to do with the complexity of the treatment process?

 

It's not a pill that can be manufactured in batches of millions of pills, each dose is custom manufactured for each patient.

 

The capitalist in me can accept their price, manufactures of new drugs need to be allowed to recoup the money they invested in taking the risk to develop new treatments.

 

The patient side of me is shocked at the cost, but I understand it when it is failry compared to radiation and chemo.

 

I would question why this drug costs $93,000. These medicine costs are out of control, much like the drug now sold to help prevent premature births. Established drug went from $20 to $1600 a dose when a major drug co. became the sole supplier. Knowing medicaid pays the freight.

-- Emersonwww.flhw.org

Every 2.25 minutes a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer.Every 16.5 minutes a man dies from the disease.

[Guest guest]

I have yet to hear anyone complain about the cost of Taxotere and Jevtana (chemotherapy).  For 2 months life extension the real cost of taxotere is higher then the cost of Provenge.  At the recent CME hearings an advanced prostate cancer patient testified as to the real cost of his treatments with taxotere which exceeded $106,000 for the year 2010. 

I refer you to the advanced prostate cancer blog (www.advancedprostatecancer.net) where I wrote about the comparative costs:

Provenge, It Isn’t Over Priced, Its Actually A Bargain Basement ProductA Survival Advantage – Is It Worth It and What Does It Mean? When Economics Interface with Survival

What our society really needs is a frank and open discussion about the value of a human life.  Can Our Society Find Its Way To An Honest Dialogue About The Price Of A Human Life?

What is the Value of One Human Life

 

Perhaps it is because it took 10 years to develop and get approved? Or maybe it has something to do with the complexity of the treatment process?

 

It's not a pill that can be manufactured in batches of millions of pills, each dose is custom manufactured for each patient.

 

The capitalist in me can accept their price, manufactures of new drugs need to be allowed to recoup the money they invested in taking the risk to develop new treatments.

 

The patient side of me is shocked at the cost, but I understand it when it is failry compared to radiation and chemo.

 

I would question why this drug costs $93,000. These medicine costs are out of control, much like the drug now sold to help prevent premature births. Established drug went from $20 to $1600 a dose when a major drug co. became the sole supplier. Knowing medicaid pays the freight.

-- Emersonwww.flhw.org

Every 2.25 minutes a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer.Every 16.5 minutes a man dies from the disease.

-- T Nowak, MA, MSWDirector for Advocacy and  Advanced Prostate Cancer Programs, Malecare Inc. Men Fighting Cancer, TogetherSurvivor - Recurrent Prostate, Thyroid, Melanoma and Renal Cancers

www.advancedprostatecancer.net - A blog about advanced and recurrent prostate cancerwww.malecare.org - information and support about prostate cancer

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/advancedprostatecancer/ - an online support group for men and their families diagnosed with advanced and recurrent prostate cancer

[Guest guest]

tom mccartney wrote:

> I would question why this drug costs $93,000. ...

The cost is, of course, market driven. Dendreon has the patent.

Nobody else has it. The demand for treatments even at the

$93,000 price, is way above the number of treatments that can be

made available. Most commentators seem to think that $93,000 is

the highest price that Dendreon can charge and still get

insurance companies to pay, so that's where they set the price.

Having said that, we should also understand that it's not a cheap

drug. My understanding is that it takes a week for very highly

trained people to produce a single dose for a single person. It

has to be made individually for each patient from that patient's

cells. I'm sure that the people working on it are working on

drugs for more than one patient at a time, but it is both a labor

and capital intensive process.

In addition, the company has to pay the investors back for all of

the money spent on research, all of the money spent on clinical

trials, and all of the money spent on additional costs like

administration, fund raising, FDA filings, etc.

In addition, drug companies invest in multiple drugs. Most of

them fail. When one succeeds, the revenue from that drug has to

pay off all of the costs of all the failures.

> These medicine costs are out of control, much like the drug now

> sold to help prevent premature births. Established drug went

> from $20 to $1600 a dose when a major drug co. became the sole

> supplier. Knowing medicaid pays the freight.

I agree with you about that.

The solutions require a lot of work in the areas of patent law,

funding for research, government manufacturing or sponsorship of

drugs that are no longer commercially viable, and perhaps

limitations on lobbying, marketing and advertising. It's going

to require great expertise and tremendous political will.

It isn't going to be solved quickly. I'm not optimistic that it

will be solved at all in the foreseeable future.

Alan

[Guest guest]

Re:  Taxotere being off patentThe actual cost of the taxotere is not what drives up its cost, it is the cost of the supportive drugs that are needed and the common emergency room visits and hospitalizations that often accompany the use of taxotere.

 

Taxotere is now off patent and Hospira was approved last month to offer the generic version. Expect major price drop.

> >

> >>

> >>

> >> I would question why this drug costs $93,000. These medicine costs are out

> >> of control, much like the drug now sold to help prevent premature births.

> >> Established drug went from $20 to $1600 a dose when a major drug co. became

> >> the sole supplier. Knowing medicaid pays the freight.

> >>

> >

> >

> >

> > --

> > * Emerson*

> > *www.flhw.org*

> > Every 2.25 minutes a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer.

> > Every 16.5 minutes a man dies from the disease.

> >

> >

> >

>

>

>

> --

> T Nowak, MA, MSW

>

> Director for Advocacy and Advanced Prostate Cancer Programs, Malecare Inc.

>

> Men Fighting Cancer, Together

>

> Survivor - Recurrent Prostate, Thyroid, Melanoma and Renal Cancers

>

>

> www.advancedprostatecancer.net - A blog about advanced and recurrent

> prostate cancer

>

> www.malecare.org - information and support about prostate cancer

>

> http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/advancedprostatecancer/ - an online

> support group for men and their families diagnosed with advanced and

> recurrent prostate cancer

>

-- T Nowak, MA, MSWDirector for Advocacy and  Advanced Prostate Cancer Programs, Malecare Inc. Men Fighting Cancer, TogetherSurvivor - Recurrent Prostate, Thyroid, Melanoma and Renal Cancers

www.advancedprostatecancer.net - A blog about advanced and recurrent prostate cancerwww.malecare.org - information and support about prostate cancer

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/advancedprostatecancer/ - an online support group for men and their families diagnosed with advanced and recurrent prostate cancer

[Guest guest]

When the patent ends on this drug it's going to be very difficult for it to be produced as a generic drug because it's a biologic and not your usual pill composed of various compounds. Any company wanting to reproduce Provenge will have to set up their mfg. facilities to mimic that of Dendreon's. With dozens of biologics coming up in testing I cannot see any company that produces generic drugs in the future to have the capability or financial resources to replicate half a dozen different mfg. processes. Interesting.

I would question why this drug costs $93,000. These medicine costs are out of control, much like the drug now sold to help prevent premature births. Established drug went from $20 to $1600 a dose when a major drug co. became the sole supplier. Knowing medicaid pays the freight.

-- Emersonwww.flhw.orgEvery 2.25 minutes a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer.Every 16.5 minutes a man dies from the disease.

[Guest guest]

So long as the costs are borne by health insurance, no one is going to complain as they have no reason to complain. They may complain about their insurance premiums going up but they are not going to complain about the price of any treatment covered by that insurance. Which makes sense, You are paying for the insurance premiums, you are not paying for any specific treatment covered by that insurance. What concerns the patient is what it costs them personally. My opinion of course.

I would question why this drug costs $93,000. These medicine costs are out of control, much like the drug now sold to help prevent premature births. Established drug went from $20 to $1600 a dose when a major drug co. became the sole supplier. Knowing medicaid pays the freight.

-- Emersonwww.flhw.orgEvery 2.25 minutes a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer.Every 16.5 minutes a man dies from the disease.

-- T Nowak, MA, MSWDirector for Advocacy and Advanced Prostate Cancer Programs, Malecare Inc. Men Fighting Cancer, TogetherSurvivor - Recurrent Prostate, Thyroid, Melanoma and Renal Cancerswww.advancedprostatecancer.net - A blog about advanced and recurrent prostate cancerwww.malecare.org - information and support about prostate cancerhttp://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/advancedprostatecancer/ - an online support group for men and their families diagnosed with advanced and recurrent prostate cancer