Physicians, she points out, find themselves in the undesirable position of having to help patients make decisions about whether the potential clinical benefits warrant the financial strain that even the copayments for these medications may create. She asks, "How should we determine whether these interventions are worth their immense cost?"
The primary responsibility of clinicians is to serve as advocates for patients, and most neither want nor are equipped to address difficult questions of social policy, Dr. Schrag suggests. "As physicians, we will find that discussions about financing cancer treatment will intrude on our examination rooms more frequently." The high cost of new drugs means that non-Medicare health plans are likely to deny coverage or, alternatively, to raise premiums. "For some patients who lack or have been denied coverage," she explains, "drug costs will be insurmountable; others will obtain loans and remortgage their homes to finance their treatment. Even for privileged, middle-class patients who have insurance coverage, copayments will cause economic hardship. Modest gains in survival will be offset by anxiety about financing treatment."
Source: Drug Costs Pushing Companies to Abandon Promising Therapies
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