Thursday, March 18, 2010

“Study Finds The Cost Of Cancer Care Is Skyrocketing (Medical News Today)” plus 2 more

“Study Finds The Cost Of Cancer Care Is Skyrocketing (Medical News Today)” plus 2 more

Study Finds The Cost Of Cancer Care Is Skyrocketing (Medical News Today)

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 08:46 AM PDT


Main Category: Cancer / Oncology
Also Included In: IT / Internet / E-mail;  Radiology / Nuclear Medicine;  Pharma Industry / Biotech Industry
Article Date: 18 Mar 2010 - 5:00 PDT

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USA Today: "The cost of cancer treatment is 'skyrocketing' - both for individual patients and the nation, a new analysis shows. From 1990 to 2008, spending on cancer care soared to more than $90 billion from $27 billion. The increase was driven by the rising costs of sophisticated new drugs, robotic surgeries and radiation techniques, as well as the growing number of patients who are eligible to take them, says Peter Bach of New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Cancer, co-author of an analysis in today's Journal of the American Medical Association. Many older, frailer patients - who might not have been considered strong enough to weather traditional surgery - now have the option to have less invasive operations or more tightly focused radiation treatments, the analysis says" (Szabo, 3/16).

The Seattle Times / Bloomberg: "The rising cost of cancer research and care, which helped reduce death rates by 16 percent over 40 years, is straining the U.S. health system and needs to be restrained, commentators said in a special edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association. ... In one survey cited in the journal, almost a quarter of respondents with health insurance said they used most or all of their savings during treatment for the disease" (3/16).

HealthDay News: "New chemotherapy agents for metastatic colon cancer improve patient survival but are costly, says a new study. Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta analyzed data from 4,665 patients, aged 66 and older, diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer between 1995 and 2005. Compared to those who received older chemotherapy agents, patients who received one or more of the six chemotherapy agents approved in the United States between 1996 and 2004 lived an average of 6.8 months longer. That increase in survival was associated with a lifetime cost increase of $37,100, which equates to $66,200 per year of life gained" (3/16).

This information was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at kaiserhealthnews.org.

© Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.



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Study finds the cost of cancer care is skyrocketing (News-Medical-Net)

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 05:12 AM PDT

USA Today: "The cost of cancer treatment is 'skyrocketing' — both for individual patients and the nation, a new analysis shows. From 1990 to 2008, spending on cancer care soared to more than $90 billion from $27 billion. The increase was driven by the rising costs of sophisticated new drugs, robotic surgeries and radiation techniques, as well as the growing number of patients who are eligible to take them, says Peter Bach of New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Cancer, co-author of an analysis in today's Journal of the American Medical Association. Many older, frailer patients — who might not have been considered strong enough to weather traditional surgery — now have the option to have less invasive operations or more tightly focused radiation treatments, the analysis says" (Szabo, 3/16).

The Seattle Times / Bloomberg: "The rising cost of cancer research and care, which helped reduce death rates by 16 percent over 40 years, is straining the U.S. health system and needs to be restrained, commentators said in a special edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association. ... In one survey cited in the journal, almost a quarter of respondents with health insurance said they used most or all of their savings during treatment for the disease" (3/16).

HealthDay News: "New chemotherapy agents for metastatic colon cancer improve patient survival but are costly, says a new study. Researchers at Emory University in Atlanta analyzed data from 4,665 patients, aged 66 and older, diagnosed with metastatic colon cancer between 1995 and 2005. Compared to those who received older chemotherapy agents, patients who received one or more of the six chemotherapy agents approved in the United States between 1996 and 2004 lived an average of 6.8 months longer. That increase in survival was associated with a lifetime cost increase of $37,100, which equates to $66,200 per year of life gained" (3/16).

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Study: Internet piracy taking big toll on jobs (EurActiv)

Posted: 18 Mar 2010 05:08 AM PDT

The study, by Paris-based TERA Consultants for the International Chamber of Commerce, focused on piracy in Europe's music, film, television and software industries.

Those industries generated €860 billion and employed 14.4 million people in 2008. But in the same year, €10 billion and 186,000 jobs were lost to piracy, the study found.

If that trend continues – and the rapid increase in illegal downloads and advancing piracy techniques suggest it will – then up to 1.2 million jobs and €240 billion worth of European commerce could be wiped out by 2015.

"In the near future and even today in 2010, we observe increasing bandwidth, increasing penetration rate in terms of the Internet," said TERA Consultants' Patrice Geoffron, explaining that piracy was likely to increase.

The bulk of illegal downloading targets music, television and video sites, with consumers using 'peer-to-peer' formats to download songs and video clips onto their laptops and home computers from websites without paying a fee.

In that respect it has a disproportionate impact on the creative industries, with musicians, actors and artists standing to lose the most from unfettered downloading, experts say.

Agnete Haaland, president of the International Actors' Federation, believes consumers need to be made more aware of the damaging economic and social impact of their illegal activity.

"Consumers have to understand that there will be nothing to consume if it's impossible to make money making the content," she said.

Haaland, whose group supported the study, said one of the best ways to reverse the situation would be stricter EU legislation to enforce existing laws against piracy.

Marielle Gallo, a member of the European Parliament who is pushing for tighter laws on intellectual property, said the report showed how much damage could be done to industry.

But she said it would be tough to secure passage of stricter rules as several parliamentary groups are strongly opposed.

(EurActiv with Reuters.)

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