How many families have been destroyed by sky-high targeted drugs? Is it worth the money for treatment? behind the answer is the hardship
If you are unfortunately seriously ill, how much are you willing to pay in order to prolong your life? In order to cure the disease, how many families have been crushed?
01. Maxing out 11 credit cards, treating a disease is like filling a bottomless pit
An ordinary family with an annual income of less than 100,000 yuan maxed out 11 credit cards and spent more than 690,000 yuan. They only hoped to cure their youngest son's illness.
Ms. Du, 31, has a son who is less than one year old. A few months after giving birth to her son, Ms. Du noticed that something was wrong with her son: he didn't like to move, he didn't want to breathe, he had difficulty swallowing, and his muscles were weak.
After genetic testing, the younger son was determined to have spinal muscular atrophy . Spinal muscular atrophy is a rare disease, and the targeted drug for treatment costs 700,000 yuan per injection. 6 injections are required in the first year, and 3 injections are required every year thereafter .
No matter how hard it is, you can't suffer the child, and you can't give up treatment. The couple took out all their savings, their parents' pensions, pensions, loans from relatives and friends, bank credit cards, and even the 30,000 yuan saved by their 90-year-old grandma in her life, before the child received the first injection.
02. There is medicine but you can’t afford it, so you can only live for a day
"We know that there is medicine to treat it now, but we can't cure it with 700,000 injections!"
9-year-old Yueyue also suffers from spinal muscular atrophy. She eats liquid food every day and has difficulty turning over. She has to rely on an oxygen generator to survive the night. However, because the oxygen generator cannot be afforded, she is still the only one in the patient group. It was given by a friend. Her child died because of incurable diseases.
" I used to try my best to treat the child no matter what I said, but now I have the medicine, but the family has no money, so I can only live for a day. " How many times did Yueyue's mother wipe tears helplessly, "This kind of mood It makes people more complicated, and now I don’t take pictures of children, I’m afraid it will be uncomfortable.”
"The medicine has been researched, but so many people can't cure it, what's the point of that ..." Yueyue's father sighed.
Fortunately, in 2019, the world's first drug for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy dropped from 700,000 per injection to 550,000. In the latest version of the national medical insurance drug catalog implemented in January 2022, it has been successfully included in the medical insurance, and the price has been reduced to 33,000 yuan per injection , bringing hope to countless patients. But as Yueyue's father said, why are targeted drugs so expensive?
1. Why are targeted drugs so expensive?
Targeted drugs are drugs that can specifically select targets to cause tumor cells to die at specific locations without affecting normal cells. The reason why targeted drugs are so expensive is actually related to the cost of targeted drugs from research and development to marketing:
Research and development costs: The research and development of new drugs requires a huge investment of manpower and material resources, which is the result of long-term experimental research by a large number of research experts.
Trial costs: Targeted drug development results will not be put on the market immediately, because a large number of clinical trials are still required, and the drug efficacy and side effects of the drug need to be comprehensively considered after group comparison.
Time cost: The research and development of new drugs often takes several years or even longer. During this period, if the efficacy of the drug is not significantly improved, then the previous investment is basically equivalent to wasted.
Speaking of this, it is also necessary to explain to everyone what is a generic drug and what is a counterfeit drug.
Generic drugs are not counterfeit drugs . After the new drug comes out for a period of time, the protection period of the patent ends, and the legal generic drug produced by the pharmaceutical factory is a real drug that meets the drug standard, but it is relatively low in cost.
However, after new drugs are put into the market, the prices are often very expensive, and at this time, "fake drugs", that is, raw materials, are prone to appear.
APIs are prepared by chemical synthesis, biotechnology or plant extraction by analyzing the active ingredients of new drugs, but APIs cannot be taken directly by patients because there are no excipients and additives, which may cause strong side effects or extremely poor efficacy.
In general, the R&D cost of targeted drugs is extremely high . From the development cycle to preclinical target screening to final successful marketing, it takes an average of at least 13.5 years (excluding the target confirmation stage), while the preclinical The time required for the development of the drug is 5.5 years, and the average clinical development time is 8 years.
So there is no reason why targeted drugs are expensive. However, targeted drugs are indeed life-saving drugs for many patients. What should I do if I don’t have money to buy them? It is gratifying that the country is also actively striving for the opportunity of "treatment" for patients.
In the 4th adjustment of the national medical insurance drug catalog, the average price drop of new drugs negotiated reached 61.71% , and 7 new drugs for the treatment of rare diseases were added, and some new targeted drugs were also included.
In 2020, in the hospitals monitored by the anti-tumor drug clinical application monitoring network, the average number of anti-tumor drugs equipped with medical insurance negotiations has increased by 15% compared with the previous year, and the average number of inpatients using these drugs has increased by 6%. The cost has dropped by 8%, and the average cost of some more expensive targeted therapy drugs and immunotherapy drugs has been reduced by 50% to 70%.
2. Is it worth spending money on targeted drugs to prolong life?
Targeted drugs are expensive, which may not be a big problem for families with good economic conditions, but for families with average financial ability, they may need to borrow money everywhere for treatment. Is this kind of investment worth it?
In this regard, Professor Lin Lizhu, director of the Oncology Department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, put forward her own point of view:
First, if the targeted drug is selected correctly, it is indeed effective in controlling the patient's condition, improving the quality of the patient, and prolonging the survival period. And if the targeted drug is chosen wrongly, then this kind of treatment will not only waste money and time, but also delay the condition.
Second, for patients themselves and their families, when choosing targeted drugs, they must find experienced experts and use them rationally under their guidance.
In fact, from the perspective of human care, our lives are priceless. In order to make sick family members or relatives live longer, it is really touching to try our best to treat them.
Some cancers may have great hope in the advanced stage , such as lymphoma and testicular cancer, or may achieve long-term survival with tumors, while some may really not need treatment .
Another thing to consider is that everyone has a different attitude towards death . Some people are afraid, some are calm, and some chase the quality of life...
In clinical practice, "ineffective treatment" will also appear. The so-called "ineffective treatment" refers to using all the most advanced technologies to help the dying patients to continue their lives.
This kind of ineffective treatment may actually be a kind of torture for the patient himself. Perhaps with the development of science and technology today, the biggest problem doctors face is not how to keep patients alive, but how to let patients leave peacefully.
With the continuous development of medical technology, the treatment options for cancer patients have also developed from the initial surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy to new immunotherapy and targeted therapy. Since targeted drugs need to invest in research and development, testing and time in the process from research and development to marketing cost, so it's expensive! But I am grateful that the country has been paying attention to this issue of people's livelihood. Now some targeted drugs are gradually included in the medical insurance, which greatly reduces the financial burden on the families of cancer patients! I hope that in the future, lack of money to buy targeted drugs will no longer be a plight for cancer patients.
References:
[1] "315 "Crackdown on counterfeit medicines", this doctor expressed his point of view". Medicine and Health News. 2017-03-16
[2] "Is the price of "sky-high priced medicine" used after the price reduction?" Is the research and development of innovative drugs encouraged? What answers does the "update" of the drug catalog bring? ". Health News Channel. 2021-12-06
[3] "National Health and Medical Commission: The average cost of some anti-cancer targeted drugs in China has dropped by 50%-70%". Chronic Diseases. 2021-04-29
[4] "In-depth good article! Why do doctors opt for the least amount of treatment when they themselves and their loved ones are terminally ill! ". Health Times. 2019-06-24
[5] "Avoid spending more money and taking medicine for nothing! Quickly remember these common sense of taking targeted drugs". Medical Association of Cancer Friends. 2021-11-04
[6] "Targeted Drug Administration Collection, Hurry up and collect it so as not to step on the pit!" 》. Medical Association of Cancer Friends. 2021-02-08
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