Insurance Lags as Cancer Care Comes in a Pill

[Guest guest]

From NEW YORK TIMES April 14, 2009

....... " Pills and capsules are the new wave in cancer treatment, expected to

account for 25 percent of all cancer medicines in a few years, up from less than

10 percent now.

The oral drugs can free patients from frequent trips to a clinic to be hooked to

an intravenous line for hours. Fewer visits might save the health system money

as well as time. And the pills are a step toward making cancer a manageable

chronic condition, like diabetes.

But for many patients, exchanging an I.V. bag for a pill is a lopsided trade

because the economics and practice of cancer medicine have not caught up with

the convenience of oral drugs. " .......

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/business/15pill.html?pagewanted=1 & _r=1 & emc=eta\

1