Fast-tracked cancer meds cost plenty, but don’t save lives

When it comes to new cancer drugs, “breakthrough,” “cutting edge” and “game-changing” can be some of the most dangerous descriptions you’ll ever see.

Of course, most cancer patients would never suspect that when they put their money and maybe even their life on the line to try a new drug, they’re often buying a very expensive ride to nowhere.

After all, who would guess that the FDA would approve drugs with obscene price tags and the harshest side effects imaginable, yet with little proof that they are even a tiny bit effective?

But now, researchers have come up with proof of something else: just how huge this Big Pharma scam really is.

A high price for zero benefits

“We were shocked to find that these drugs don’t save lives and don’t improve quality of lives.”

That’s what Diana Zuckerman said after examining the data on 18 cancer meds approved by the FDA between 2008 and 2012.

Zuckerman, who is president of the National Center for Health Research, combed through FDA summaries to study these drugs.

And it turns out that a lot of cancer patients might as well be popping Tic Tacs.

All these drugs were fast-tracked through the FDA by using a lightning-speed approval method known as meeting a “surrogate” endpoint or goal. The criteria involved include such things as tumor size and the amount of time before a cancer progresses.

While those might sound like measures of success, further research after approval showed that nearly all of those 18 drugs did not do the most important things any cancer treatment should offer: improve the quality of patients’ lives and help them to live longer.

First, five of the meds couldn’t even be researched because there was NO available evidence to be found on them.

As for the rest, six were totally ineffective, no better than taking a placebo or doing nothing at all. Two made things even worse, and four returned mixed results compared to other drugs and even placebos.

Just one drug was found to improve the quality of life for patients. One.

And you won’t believe the estimated price tags for these turkeys:

• Thirteen of the drugs cost more than $100,000 per year.
• Among the drugs that resulted in no different or worse quality of life than placebo, the average yearly cost was almost $88,000.
• The most expensive drug — Cometriq (cabozantinib) — didn’t improve survival and actually worsened quality of life, but still cost patients a whopping $169,000 per year.

And how has the FDA responded to these findings?

Only one of these 18 drugs lost its approval for treating breast cancer. That’s it! And that one’s still available for treating other cancers.

But that’s the closest the FDA has come to curbing the use of any of these 18 duds. They’re all still out there, doing little good and making things even worse for many patients struggling with cancer. And drug companies are still using them to suck up huge profits.

But it looks like this mess is about to get even worse.

A few days ago, Congress passed the 21st Century Cures Act, which will put more drugs than ever on the fast track for FDA approval. Instead of full clinical trial data, many meds will now be able to get approved with only “data summaries” in their file folders.

I’ve said this many times, and it’s truer now more than ever. You should never trust a newly-approved drug. Even when new drugs are backed up with clinical trials, serious safety issues crop up for months and even years after they’ve been allowed on the market, turning users into guinea pigs.

And this new research certainly shines a spotlight on the fact that just because a drug has been approved to treat cancer, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it will improve your life or help you live longer.

Where cancer treatments are concerned, you need to find out if any drugs you’ve been prescribed can do one or both of these – and if the potential benefits outweigh the risks.

“Cancer drugs may remain approved despite lack of benefit” Reuters, December 2, 2016, newsmax.com