3 ms·
The problem with this particular drug is that there is no evidence that it leads to longer or better lives for the patients who have taken it. Therefore there i
by pg_bot 5y ago
The problem with this particular drug is that there is no evidence that it leads to longer or better lives for the patients who have taken it. Therefore there is no real reason to prescribe it for Alzheimer's, but it will be prescribed and it will cost American taxpayers billions.
- alasdair_ 5y agoThe solution seems to be to ban medicare/medicaid from paying for any treatment that isn’t proven to work.
- tsimionescu 5y agoIt's not just a problem for Medicare/medicaid. BioGen will be allowed to push this through their marketing to desperate patients and caregivers, who will nag their doctors into prescribing it, even though they could just as well drink a glass of water.
- jcims 5y agoThat’s their risk to take.
- refurb 5y agoThe doctor is the final decision maker on prescribing. If they don’t think it’s effective then don’t prescribe it?
- tsimionescu 5y agoThen the doctor gets bad reviews for refusing to prescribe FDA-approved medicine to desperate patients. The doctor themselves may not have looked deeply into this, and just know that it is an FDA approved medication, so it must be effective, right?
- CamperBob2 5y agoThat's the whole problem. The company can now point to its FDA approval and say, "See? It's proven to work!" It hasn't been, and probably doesn't, but now they can get billions from Medicare for it.
- refurb 5y agoThat’s the point of an Accelerated Approval though. And no, it won’t cost billions. That’s a scare tactic. Medicare can choose not to reimburse.