Policy Wise

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An interesting debate has broken out amongst drug companies, policy makers and patients on new cancer drugs which can extend life for a few months but are horribly expensive.

On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration approved GlaxoSmithKline’s Tykerb, a once-a-day pill for late-stage breast cancer patients that costs nearly $35,000 a year. It’s the latest of half a dozen new cancer therapies with names such as Avastin and Tarceva that can run as much as $100,000 for an annual supply.

Although the medications work much longer in some patients, they help extend the lives of most for only a few months.

The drugs’ sky-high costs compared with their relatively small health benefits have sparked arguments among policymakers and medical professionals about what to do with the growing number of people who are depleting their life savings on the drugs or, worse, who can’t get them at all.[link]

This is hardly the first time that a debate of this nature has broken out. Everytime, there is an experimental drug in the market, there is a virtual tug of war between different interest groups. While drug companies want the insurance companies to pay for these drugs, health economists cite the high cost and limited benefits. Patients, of course, want the best treatment irrespective of the cost.

In my mind the choice of clear: Health dollars are limited and they must be utilized in most efficient manner so as to benefit the largest number of people. Drugs which provide only a few months of life at a high cost fail to pass this test.

Those who cite humanity and equality as a reason why even such drugs should be paid for, must remember something: there is nothing called perfect equality. If there was, millions won’t have died in poorer countries for want of treatments, the cost of which barely keep a few people alive in the West.

No doubt, for a patient’s family, every extra minute is priceless. However, even the richest society in the world can only afford so much.

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