One of the core issues driving increases in medical costs and a real dilemna for our society..... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100927/ap_on_he_me/us_med_costly_cancer_drugs_5 Another issue at the heart of the debate and premium cost curves and the economic rationale for caps.....
Under any system these questions come up and can not be answered. While the gentleman in question was candid that he would not have paid the money, and wasn't sure the 4 more months of life was worth 93K, many others will disagree with him. In fact I'm sure that when somebody is denied the treatment to prolong life 4 months or some surgery that has a 10% chance of succeeding but costs 6 figures, we will see anger and frustration expressed by patient and loved ones over the situation. The comment on patients hitting their lifetime max is troubling because I believe the new laws will eliminate that lifetime max and that in itself will drive up the costs for all of us. Personally with the aging population, I don't see much hope that we can come up with a systems that provides cadillac care that we all want at a price our society can afford. Anybody who thinks the govt can control these costs any better than the private sector though is just nuts.
Agreed TOK, imho it is irrational and contrary to fundamental human behavior.....but there are many that would and believe it's the role of the central government to take care of them and hence divorce themselves from the consequences of their actions, a sure recipe for societal disaster imho....
The absolute heart of the issue imho.....raises many, many sticky societal issues that at some point will have to be addressed. Obama bailed and instead chose not "health care" reform but rather "health insurance" change......the cost issues remain and likely have been made worse.
8) I see no problem here. The government death panels will simply decide who lives and who dies based on each individual's worth as a productive member of the Democratic Party...
Oh man I've really missed JO'Co...things are back to normal now! :wink: He's the only guy who can cut to the bottom line in a sentence or two and add a little humor!
I know a little about this drug and the company. I've been invested in it for years. I even mentioned it here on the Skybox when we were discussing investments. The article is completely misleading and in fact is inaccurate. Provenge does not extend life for 4 mos. It extends lives 4 months longer than the current standard of care treatment. Up to now, men in advanced stage prostate cancer had one option, chemotherapy with an extremely toxic chemical taxotere. It so effects the quality of life that almost half the sick men decide not to take it. Provenge on the other hand has almost no side effects only flu like symptoms for a day or two. Provenge actually extends the lives of those who have no treatment for over 14 mos. That is a median figure. It increases the 3 year survival rate by almost 40%. Taxotere itself is less costly than Provenge. However it requires support medications such as steroids, anti-nausia drugs and often blood boosters. Often the side effects result in costly hospital stays. While it currently is being used only for late stage prostate cancer, it's is very possible that if used earlier it could be even more effective. Dendreon believes that similar vaccines could be used in other cancers. However it will once again have to spend tens of millions running trials to get FDA approval. The next targeted cancer is bladder cancer. Lastly when I mentioned Dendreon here it was selling below $4. It's been over $50 and is currently around $42.
The press trying to make drug companies look like greedy bastards? I'm shocked! However thanks for clearing things up on this drug. Terry
Gip, I didn't mean to imply anything negative about the drug or the company at all. My intent was to raise the issue about one of the major drivers behind the growth in health care costs. The development of new technology both drugs and diagnostics is an expensive proposition. DNDN is a great example, they have invested over $300 million in R&D before having sold anything, now they're facing additional investment requirements approaching $500 million to ramp up their production capacity - if innovation is not rewarded commensurate with it's value, innovation will cease....with much more costly implications to society. Older folks need more health care, as the population ages, the demand for health care services grows, the application of these new technologies increase and costs will necessarily accelerate......independent of political party. Congrats on DNDN - a ten bagger will do wonders for portfolio returns!
T Didn't take it that way. The big concern I have is the new head of Medicare, Donald Berwick. He was a recess appointment by Obama. He's a fan of the English health care system. We've seen the Obama administration raid 500 billion from Medicare to fund their health care program. Now facing severe underfunding of the program we're beginning to see how they intend to strangle benefits of medicare recipients. I think millions of seniors have seen the "light."