Pharmaceutical companies under fire for high price of cancer drugs

Cancer substance prices are usually increasing at an worrying rate, which can be causing problems for patients.

In an article directed against big pharmaceutical companies which are basically dictating market prices, the cancer specialists are urging them to lower prices for some drugs which have gone up by a whopping $8,500 per year since 2000.

“High cancer drug prices are affecting the care of patients with cancer and our health care system”. He is the lead author of the study published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings journal.

The hematologist informed that on an average every household in America has a yearly gross income of $52,000. “For an insured patient with cancer who needs a drug that costs $120,000 per year, the out-of-pocket expenses could be as much as $25,000 to $30,000 – more than half their average household income”.

Cancer affects one-third of individuals during their lifetime.

Another important argument raised by the doctors is that patients suffering from cancer have to already face the serious disease and they shouldn’t have to be victims of financial ordeals on top of that.

Dr. Tefferi feels that a regulatory board consisting of experts from various fields should be set up for examining the cost of cancer drugs.

Allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices by removing all current legal restrictions.

However, the pharmaceutical companies aren’t exactly happy to welcome the actions of the doctors.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturing Association rejected the arguments presented by the doctors, countering that the drugs in question only make up one-fifth of the total amount spent on treating cancer in the U.S. They argue that a policy that drives down drug prices would stifle innovation and progress in cancer research.

The association’s spokesman Robert Zirkelbach informed that expenditure for cancer drugs usually constitutes just around 20% of cancer treatment.

The oncologists said that importing cancer drugs from other countries, like Canada is vital, as the drugs in those countries are a lot cheaper than the drugs in the United States.