By Curt Pesman and Mary Miller

In an unusual move, sanofi pharmaceutical company has instituted a 50 percent discount, effective immediately, on its latest cancer drug Zaltrap.  The reason for the sharp price drop, company officials said, was “market resistance” to the initial price.

Zaltrap was approved in August by the FDA for second-line treatment for metastatic colorectal cancer.

One possible result of the price cut is that the new drug may become more widely available. However, due to complex pricing and regulation issues, it’s not yet known how the actual cost to patients will change over the next several months. Fight Colorectal Cancer is gathering more information today on this issue from oncologists and company officials. Read the rest of this entry »

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has proposed an evaluation of its federally funded Colorectal Cancer Control Program to determine whether the program does what is it supposed to do: Increase state-level colorectal cancer screening rates and other related outcomes. Read the rest of this entry »

This week brings some excellent reading about why and how to educate patients so they can help make better decisions about their own care.

What happens when patients get to read their own medical records? The Oct. 2^nd  Annals of Internal Medicine published two editorials and results of a quasi-experimental trial of 100 primary care doctors who voluntarily provided 13,500 patient volunteers with access to their doctors’ notes for a year. To read details, read further, but some results in brief :

• patients loved being able to read their visit report, and 75% said they were more likely to take medicines as directed;
• doctors didn’t see increased patient anxiety, visits, or time demands.

Meanwhile, an expert panel of “thought leaders” gathered by the Institute of Medicine released an in-depth report about helping patients make better care decisions by giving them the best available medical evidence. The results, summarized in an online JAMA article  and discussed by Dr. Robert Miller for ASCO Connections, included:

• 8 in 10 patients want their provider to listen, but only 6 in 10 say it happens;
• 8 in 10 want to hear the full truth about their diagnosis;
• fewer than half of patients say their provider asks about their goals and concerns. Read the rest of this entry »

Polypectomy

The Kaiser Family Foundation, working with the American Cancer Society and the National Colorectal Cancer Round Table, today released results of its investigation into the problem of patients being billed unexpectedly for costs of colonoscopies initiated at routine screening tests. Fight Colorectal Cancer was one of the organizations that contributed to the report.

One way the new federal Affordable Care Act (ACA) aims to reduce medical spending is to improve cost-effective screening that prevents or detects diseases before they become complicated and expensive to treat.

But consumer complaints reveal that, for screening colonoscopies in particular, consumers are getting unexpected bills when insurers decide their colonoscopies were no longer “screening” procedures. Instead of providing full coverage required by the ACA federal law with no cost-sharing, patients may be charged either copayments or deductibles. Read the rest of this entry »

H.R. 4120 has 37 cosponsors, but your help is needed to push the number to 100 by the end of September.

Colorectal cancer screening is covered under Medicare without cost sharing (or co-pay), but if a Medicare patient undergoes a screening colonoscopy during which a polyp or other tissue is removed, that patient is required to pay. This policy is unfair, confusing and deters individuals from receiving a test that could save their lives.

Earlier this year, H.R. 4120, the ‘‘Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act of 2012,” was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Charlie Dent (R-PA). H.R. 4120 would waive a Medicare beneficiary’s coinsurance for a colorectal cancer screening colonoscopy, regardless of whether a polyp or tissue is removed during the test.

Colorectal cancer screening by colonoscopy allows for the removal of precancerous polyps during the procedure, thereby making it a unique preventive service. Enactment of H.R. 4120 would ensure that screening colonoscopy is free to all Medicare beneficiaries, regardless of whether a polyp or other tissue is removed.

Please take a moment to contact your representative and ask him or her to cosponsor H.R. 4120.