Journal of the National Cancer Institute Advance Access originally published online on June 12, 2007
JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2007 99(12):910-914; doi:10.1093/jnci/djm031
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© Oxford University Press 2007.
NEWS |
Sticker Shock Sharpens Focus on Biologics
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
Never mind their novel targets and mechanisms. It's the cost of new biologic agents that's creating a buzz these days. At thousands of dollars a month, which can mean many tens of thousands for some regimens, sticker shock has generated recent, prominent articles in both the national and trade press.
At the same time, debate is intensifying over what such costs mean for society and what—if anything—should be done about them. Drug companies, private insurers, and government are all talking about—and often beginning to do something about—costs. Each is approaching the issue from its own perspective.
On one level, the argument is about macroeconomics. Neal Meropol, M.D., of Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, pointed out that cancer drugs account for 40% of all Medicare drug expenditures. That makes them a major contributor to the country's high health care costs, now about 17% of our gross domestic product (GDP)
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