The cost of cancer treatment rose dramatically in the recent past. Sparking fears that many people may be going without the most effective treatment, according to a study conducted by researchers from the National Cancer Institute. These fears prevented most from taking treatments.
The survey conducted by Researchers using data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End-Results (SEER) Medicare database to examine the costs of initial cancer treatments in breast, colorectal, lung and prostate cancer patients over the age of 65. These treatments included surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and other hospitalization. Over the ten-year period studied, the average cost of breast cancer treatment increased $4,189 to $20,964. The average cost of treating prostate cancer increased $5,435 to $41,134, while the average cost of lung cancer treatment went up $7,139 to $39,891. The researchers attributed the increasing cost to an increase in the use of chemotherapy. The introduction of newer, more expensive drugs recently may be the reason. The reimbursement offered by the insurance companies also be one of the reason. This enables people to afford costly chemotherapy treatments.
The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) will soon encourage doctors to discuss the financial costs of chemotherapy as one of the side effects that patients should consider in deciding which treatment to proceed with, or whether to use treatment at all. This is critically important coz many get a variety of side effects after seeing their treatment bills.
Many cancer patients use drugs to seek a longer and higher quality life till their survival even though they know that they cannot be cured. For these patients in particular, the cost of drugs can be an important factor. The more expensive drug does not cause hair loss, but can cause damage to hands and feet. While these alternate side effects are normally discussed with patients, many doctors feel uncomfortable discussing cost. The price of cancer drugs is rising at a rate of 15 percent per year, in particular as new and expensive biotechnology drugs hit the market. Some of these drugs may cost $100,000 or more for a course of treatment.
“Chemotherapy is a fraud,” said consumer health advocate Mike Adams. “Its main purpose is not to save lives but to generate profits for the drug companies. In order to protect these profits, the FDA and FTC routinely discredit safer, more natural and more affordable cancer cures that really work,” Adams said.