Revolutionary new drugs that could cure terminal cancer should be on
the market here within a few years but patients will have to be "super
rich" to afford them. One four-dose treatment of the drug now
under clinical trials costs about $140,000 while other ongoing courses
can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
New Zealand Cancer Society chief executive Claire Austin said while the scientific breakthroughs were good news, they also raised ethical issues around patient expectations and access to the costly treatments. "What we need to address is how do we make it affordable and accessible. You have to be super rich to afford these drugs. What value are they if people can't afford them?" Austin said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/69008646/Cancer-cure-drug-breakthrough-only-for-the-super-rich
New Zealand Cancer Society chief executive Claire Austin said while the scientific breakthroughs were good news, they also raised ethical issues around patient expectations and access to the costly treatments. "What we need to address is how do we make it affordable and accessible. You have to be super rich to afford these drugs. What value are they if people can't afford them?" Austin said.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/health/69008646/Cancer-cure-drug-breakthrough-only-for-the-super-rich