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Rising Cost of Cancer Pharmaceuticals: Cost Issues and Interventions to Control Costs
Author(s) -
Glode Ashley E.,
May Megan Brafford
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
pharmacotherapy: the journal of human pharmacology and drug therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.227
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1875-9114
pISSN - 0277-0008
DOI - 10.1002/phar.1867
Subject(s) - psychological intervention , risk analysis (engineering) , cancer drugs , health care , cost driver , business , headline , control (management) , clinical trial , cost–benefit analysis , drug , medicine , marketing , pharmacology , computer science , economics , economic growth , nursing , advertising , ecology , pathology , biology , artificial intelligence
The rising cost of pharmaceuticals and, in particular, cancer drugs has made headline news in recent years. Several factors contribute to increasing costs and the burden this places on the health care system and patients. Some of these factors include costly cancer pharmaceutical research and development, longer clinical trials required to achieve drug approval, manufacturing costs for complex compounds, and the economic principles surrounding oncology drug pricing. Strategies to control costs have been proposed, and some have already been implemented to mitigate cancer drug costs such as the use of clinical treatment pathways and tools to facilitate cost discussions with patients. In this article, we briefly review some of the potential factors contributing to increasing cancer pharmaceutical costs and interventions to mitigate costs, and touch on the role of health care providers in addressing this important issue.