One in eight women in Australia will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime! That means that 1 in 8 of your female friends will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Who will it be? You? Cancer develops when the body’s cells behave in an uncontrolled way. Breast cancer develops in the ducts or lobules of the breast. It may present as a lump, but not always so there are other breast changes that should be investigated. What the general public doesn’t understand until they or someone close to them is diagnosed with a serious illness is that the cost of the life-saving medical treatment soon becomes a shock, as life-saving medical treatment does not come cheaply anywhere! In the US drug prices are dramatically higher than anywhere else in the world. As drug prices go up so do the profits of the companies that own the drugs. How is price determined? Well supposedly there are two major considerations:
If you can believe that then justifiably the cost of the latest Roche's new breast cancer drug, Kadcyla, is at an estimated £90,000 per patient – no guarantee of success! The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a treatment for melanoma, a deadly skin cancer, which shrunk tumors in 60 percent of patients in a clinical trial. The drug’s manufacturer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, will charge $141,000 for the first 12 weeks ($11,750 per week) of treatment and $256,000 for a year of treatment, according to the Wall Street Journal. When calculating the average cost for one extra year of life, researchers determined patients and insurers paid $54,100 in 1995. The price for one year of life increased to $139,100 in 2005 and $207,000 in 2013 and it continues to go up. Many people have no idea what to expect financially when their doctor gives them or a loved one the heartbreaking diagnosis. There doesn’t seem to be a good reason for the increase in cost if you have something that can save a persons life and they can not afford to buy it. Treating cancer is often a team battle, and patients rely on the time and energy of friends and family to help them get through their challenging time. Unfortunately, families suffering from the loss of a loved one at the hands of cancer also have to deal with financial struggles at one of the most difficult times in their lives. If you would like to donate to our cause please follow our link here Vanessa's Medical Fund Comments are closed.
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