A blog about the intersection of medicine and business, produced by the members of the Medical Consumerism seminar at the University of Minnesota.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Cancer-treatment Vaccine
The biotech, Dendreon (based in my lovely town of Seattle), has just received approval from the FDA to produce the first cancer-treatment vaccine in the U.S. Click here to read more about this ridiculously expensive drug that will be used to treat prostate cancer.
I saw a segment about this drug on the nightly news last week, and surprisingly Brian Williams actually raised an ethical question, "who will be able to afford this treatment?" Of course, that's assuming the treatment is worth the cost, because from my impression of the newscast, it is only being used during the terminal stage to extend life. Paying nearly $100,000 to live an extra 6 months? I don't know, but there sure is money to be made on people's desperation...
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I saw a segment about this drug on the nightly news last week, and surprisingly Brian Williams actually raised an ethical question, "who will be able to afford this treatment?" Of course, that's assuming the treatment is worth the cost, because from my impression of the newscast, it is only being used during the terminal stage to extend life. Paying nearly $100,000 to live an extra 6 months? I don't know, but there sure is money to be made on people's desperation...
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