«The pharmaceutical industry must become the patient's ally, while it runs the risk of being the "counterpart" that demands a hefty and poorly understood tax. The survival of cancer patients continues to increase thanks to the availability of new drugs. Small increases that add up, but at costs that are becoming unsustainable for any health system ». This is the opinion of Mario Alberto Clerico, secretary of the Italian college of leading hospital medical oncologists (Cipomo), who is not surprised by the complaint from the Institute for healthcare informatics (Ims) according to which, in the United States, many patients have to give up treatment. The insane cost of some oncological drugs – which for some treatments even reached 100,000 dollars per session – had already sparked the protest of over one hundred US oncologists last year who had pointed the finger at the profit logic of pharmaceutical companies.
«The pharmaceutical industry has to bear enormous costs to get to produce an effective drug. – admits Clerico – On the other hand, however, research is often planned according to profit criteria and the results do not necessarily coincide with the patients' needs. Sometimes very expensive drugs come onto the market that will benefit very few people and sometimes this advantage is given by an increase in survival of a few days. Can we afford it? Is it justifiable to commit huge sums of money for small benefits for a few people?»
Secretary Cipomo points out that for some time now clinicians and patient associations have been asking to be involved immediately in the definition of a research project and in the decision on the real usefulness of a new drug. “Patients have precise expectations. As Rita Levi Montalcini said, “it is better to add life to days than days to life”. This would make it possible to reduce research costs for drugs of little use (for patients), to commit resources where there is a greater need".
Renato Torlaschi
Friday, 09 May 2014 – Doctor33
Global anti-cancer spending at $91 billion in 2013
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