Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Paying For Drugs To Go In The Trash': How Americans Waste $3B On Medications A Year
The Washington Post: Americans Are Wasting $3 Billion A Year Of Cancer Drugs
Almost $3 billion a year in expensive cancer drugs are wasted because their single-use packages contain more medication than is needed -- and the leftover drug is thrown away for safety reasons, according to a new analysis by researchers. The study focused on 20 cancer drugs that are infused -- administered intravenously or injected -- by doctors' offices or hospitals. These come in dosages based on patients' weights and body sizes, but often the doses are too large and the remainder is tossed out, the analysis found. "It’s literally paying for drugs that go in the trash," said Peter Bach, director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. (McGinley, 3/1)
The Fiscal Times: Why $3 Billion Worth Of High-Tech Drugs Are Wasted Each Year
The soaring costs of breakthrough biometric drugs -- especially for the treatment of the Hepatitis-C virus and cancer – have squeezed budgets across the board—on patients, hospitals, insurers and government healthcare programs. (Pianin, 3/1)
CBS News: America's $3 Billion Cancer Drug Problem
American consumers are familiar with the phenomenon of package-shrink, when food manufacturers pack less coffee or sugar into a container but charge the same price. What happens when that strategy is flipped on its head by a life-saving but costly industry? (Picchi, 3/1)
Marketplace: $3 Billion Worth Of Cancer Drugs Will Be Trashed This Year
Let's take this one drug for melanoma, Keytruda, as an example. It's packaged right now in 100 milligram vials. The typical patient needs 150 milligrams, so the hospital or the doctor is going to have to order two vials, and the question is, what happens to the remaining 50 milligrams? Put it all together, and the paper says that the companies who produce the top selling 20 single dose vials of cancer drugs will make an additional $1.8 billion from this kind of waste. (Wood and Gorenstein, 3/1)
