Believes animal cancer medicine to the hospitals’ finances to collapse – Dagbladet.no

The directors of the health regions have notified the Ministry that new, expensive cancer medicines will crack hospitals economy.

Immunotherapy with so-called PD1 inhibitors, which help the body’s own immune system to fight cancer has shown promising results. The problem is that medicine is so expensive that it is uncertain whether the effect is good enough to justify the price, type Bergens Tidende.

Norwegian Lung Cancer Society believes treatment should be used immediately, while Decision Forum – where the directors of the four health regions sitting – have said no. NOMA has not considered the matter yet.

With a price of 1.1 million per patient per year, the new treatment may cost several billion for health regions, says technical director Bård-Christian in the Scheme Health west in a note. 1,500 lung cancer patients are current PD1 receivers. Today they get prescribed medication that costs a fraction of immune therapy: NOK 10,000 per year.

In addition, PD1 inhibitors be appropriate for a variety of other cancers.

The forum will ask the Ministry of Health involved in the question of how the galloping expenses should be handled. Health Bent Høie (H) says the hospitals’ budgets have increased in recent years to meet increased costs, but adds that the pharmaceutical industry should not get to dictate prices.

(NTB)