Yes, Providing Cancer Drugs In Multiple Vial Sizes Could Save Patients and Payers Money

On March 1, 2016, we published an article in the BMJ showing how in the US nearly $3 billion will be spent on discarded cancer drugs this year because companies package drugs in vials that contain too much of the drug for most doses, creating expensive leftover product. We proposed that companies in the US should either package drugs in more appropriate vial sizes to reduce the leftover amounts, or provide refunds for leftover drug. Since the time of our article’s publication, numerous Senators have written letters to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging action on vial sizes, and calling for the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS OIG) to investigate which companies sell their drugs in smaller vials outside the US than they offer to US patients. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has also mandated that beginning July 1 2016, all health professionals billing for infused cancer drugs (and other Part B drugs) to distinguish between claims that are for drugs that a patient actually receives and those claims that are for leftover drug. On May 11, however, Health Affairs Blog published a post by Professors Sherry Glied and Bhaven Sampat projecting that although the waste we identified is a sizable problem, the solutions we offered may be incomplete. One of Glied and Sampat’s concerns focuses on our suggestion that manufacturers should distribute their drugs in vial sizes that more closely match the doses that patie...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Costs and Spending Drugs and Medical Technology Cancer Source Type: blogs