The Real Reason Drug Prices Are Out Of Control?

"According to Earl L. “Buddy” Carter (R-Ga.), the only pharmacist in Congress, we ought to be looking more closely at the middlemen—Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) - who are the intermediaries between whatever company or agency that pays for drugs and the buyers of the drugs. They provide services like running mail-order pharmacies and negotiating prices with both retailers and drug makers."

Escalating Drug Prices: Not All Is What It Seems

Evidence, Clinical Expertise and Patient Preferences

"I could go on with multiple other examples, but the point remains. For the vast majority of cancers, intensive screening after curative treatment does not result in prolong survival, and, even when there is evidence that it does, such as in colorectal cancer, the survival benefit reported is variable and at best very modest. That means that the overall message to oncologists for most cancers is: Don’t be ordering CT scans every six months or following tumor markers every three months. It’s a viewpoint that oncologists have resisted but are finally coming around to. It’s also a viewpoint that is not popular with patients, as you will see."

 When science- and evidence-based guidelines conflict with patient wishes: What’s a doc to do?