Research has recently revealed tremendous
break-through’s in the treatment of cancer and the attempt to cure it. Genetics-based
medicine has recently came to the forefront of cancer research and treatment,
and has shown very promising results. These therapies, “deliver new genes or
genetically altered cells to tackle some of the hardest-to-treat diseases,
including in children. They come at a high price: Novartis AG listed its newly approved cell therapy
for cancer at $475,000, while Gilead
Sciences Inc. priced its
rival drug at $373,000.” Furthermore, through each treatment the
price would creep higher and higher thanks to extended hospital stays and other
incurred costs. This is a significant price to pay for most people, and some
wonder if insurance will one day step up to the plate and cover this life
saving treatment.
In regards to marketing, these pharmaceutical
companies should further market the idea and prove how effective this treatment
truly is. When people see that this is a truly effective treatment, many
millions would be allocated to the further development of the treatment, and
therefore the price of the treatment would eventually fall and become more accessible
to the majority. However, as everyone knows; medical equipment and treatment is
not cheap, and many do not have healthcare. In my humble opinion, if you cannot
afford it, you shouldn’t be able to obtain it. And it should not be the job of
the taxpayers and the government to pay for these types of treatments.
Therefore, the only solution is that these companies develop a way to reduce
the price of the treatment low enough where the majority of people can afford
it.
Andrew Dibello
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-million-dollar-cancer-treatment-no-one-knows-how-to-pay-for-1524740401
The sad truth is that these companies will NOT lower the price in order to make it more accessible to patients and their families. The cost of life versus death is so high that the demand for the lifesaving product they have to offer is not questionable to the patients and their families. The fact that people have to die to get the government's attention should be a red flag.. because sadly, as long as these companies are making money--there won't be a shortage of lobbyists who will rally behind the "cause" of making these firms the money they shamelessly "deserve."
ReplyDeleteGranted, the research that leads to breakthroughs that help save lives should be rewarded.. but at what cost to all future generations?? The man who invented penicillin did not get money till the day he died and for generations after that?!
Thanks to the fact that many cancer "fighting" (in my personal opinion they are only fishing for paychecks) companies wish to still make a hefty profit; and that right is allowed to them. There will always be an imbalance between helping those in need and offering a life saving measure to those who have no choice over the terminal diagnosis that reaches them unexpectedly.
My childhood best friend is a leukemia survivor who at one point was at the brink of death. Her father is a mechanic. Her mother did not work, like many Hispanic mothers, she was a homemaker. But she survived. And because it was the nineties, her family had access to funding that made it possible to save this little girl but had it been today, I am certain she would not have met the same fortune.
What is driving medicine today? Is it money; possibly. Will this disturb us forever? I hope so