Tag Archives: pharmaceutical companies

Drug Waste Costing Billions. Who benefits? Pharmaceutical Companies

Posted on by

From NY Times: Waste in Cancer Drugs Costs $3 Billion a Year

Here’s an excerpt:

The federal Medicare program and private health insurers waste nearly $3 billion every year buying cancer medicines that are thrown out because many drug makers distribute the drugs only in vials that hold too much for most patients, a group of cancer researchers has found…

If drug makers distributed vials containing smaller quantities, nurses could pick the right volume for a patient and minimize waste…according to researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, whopublished a study on Tuesday in BMJ…

“Drug companies are quietly making billions forcing little old ladies to buy enough medicine to treat football players, and regulators have completely missed it,” said Dr. Peter B. Bach, director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at Memorial Sloan Kettering and a co-author of the study…

Some non-cancer drugs also generate considerable waste, includingRemicade, an arthritis drug sold by Johnson & Johnson for which an estimated $500 million of the drug’s $4.3 billion in annual sales comes from quantities that are thrown away, researchers found.

My take: this is another indictment of our pharmaceutical companies willful neglect of medication costs or cynical manipulation of our healthcare system.

Related blog posts:

Dollars for Doctors

Posted on by

A recent NPR report, Industry Payments To Doctors Are Ingrained, Federal Data Show, provides a link detailing payments by drug and device companies to U.S. doctors and teaching hospitals.  Doctors may be paid for promotional speaking, consulting, travel expenses, and meals.

If you want to see how much is reported for each doctor, check out the ProPublica Dollars for Doctors database.

Here’s a screenshot:

Screen Shot 2015-07-02 at 8.24.03 AM

The article notes that the a close relationship between doctors and pharmaceutical companies is important.  “Collaboration between physicians and biopharmaceutical professionals is critical to improving the health and quality of life of patients.”

Take-home point: Some financial relationships between doctors and pharmaceutical companies lead to important improvements in drug (or device) development; other relationships may alter prescribing habits without apparent patient benefit. Will this information empower patients to ask why their physicians has close ties to the pharmaceutical industry?

Related blog post:

Marketing to Doctors -Informative Satire

Posted on by

One of my colleagues recently shared a youtube link that I recommend highly to anyone who is concerned about the relationship between pharmaceutical companies and physicians.  As with any good piece of satire, it is both funny and thought-provoking.  As one would question the impartiality of politicians who receive funds from constituents with a specific agenda, likewise patients may question whether physicians are unduly influenced by their relationship with pharmaceutical companies.

For those too busy to enjoy the entire ~17 minutes, watch the last three minutes: