Oncology Drug Costs

Discussion in 'Bristol-Myers Squibb' started by Anonymous, Jul 24, 2014 at 10:27 AM.

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  1. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    At the POA we are going to be told how drug prices are not the problem or that they don't contribute as much as other costs of cancer care. Costs of drugs, hospital care, HCP care or any other costs and their individual contribution to the overall picture is irrelevant to the patient or the patients family that is left in a shadow of their previous financial standings. Insurance covers...blah blah blah, so what? That just means the cost of insurance is going up to everybody, cancer patient or not.

    I know where my bread is buttered and I am in complete support of pharmaceutical (biopharm or whatever) and their desire to make a buck, it's a capitalistic country and I love that. What I am not in support of is BMS telling me how to think and what to say about the costs of anything. The patients are left flat broke in most cases (there's a stat for you) and put that way chasing the possibility that they MIGHT be ONE of the 35% of the patient getting whatever drug promising THE HOPE of an additional 6-8 weeks of survival. The other 65% get nothing from the treatment and like those who benefited are left flat broke. That choice is COMPLETELY up to the patient and their family and they don't give a damn what the percent of costs drugs,doctors or hospitals play in end.

    I don't know what the answer is but I notice my customers are not driving Ford Fusions and I see our upper management at BMS driving the 60,000 dollar cars.

    I will defend the defendable and I'll do it the way I see fit with the data I dig up on my own so that I have confidence that it is not just part of the story. I will apply that defense appropriately and when appropriate and when I agree I will side with the opposing view.

    150,000 a year for a drug, the average cost of a house in the USA (another statistic for you) is outrageous particularly when the possible survival could be 10 or more years. Here is another statistic for you, that's 1.5 million over 10 years for a drug. The average family income in the USA is just over $51,000 according to CNNMoney . That's 29.4 years of family income for 10 years of survival (or whatever it is). The point is the drug costs 3 times what the average family is taking in a year.

    Don't tell me what to think, this is a highly political subject and probably has HR implications.

    ok, tell me where I'm going wrong?
     

  2. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    No one is forced to take care, don't take the therapy, die and be done with it. This will be a discussion that more families will have, especially under Obamacare. There is not enough money to give every patient every therapy. If you want the therapy, spend all your assets and leave your family nothing. If you want to leave your family assets, deny care and die. Besides we need to pay for young women's birth control pills and abortions, not your cancer therapy.
     
  3. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    'Deny care and die'? Are you joking? Perhaps you should take a closer look at the data. The average patients life is extended 6 months at best. Those 6 months may not be pleasant either. More often that not cancer treatment does little to nothing (other than the side effects). You may justify the price in your mind but the data is marginal at best.
     
  4. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I won't be a happy camper if somebody is going to tell me what and how I need to defend anything. WTH do they think they are? I have a deep family history of cancer, some survived and some did not. I have an opinion based not only on my position at at BMS but as a person who has had to deal with the disease many times. I agree with one of the above statements, 3 times the average household income is out of control for one drug and one disease.

    Don't tell me what to think either
     
  5. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I have to agree with these posts. It takes a pretty large pair to assume we all should have the same opinion
     
  6. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Don't think that way.
     
  7. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    If you can't support the company's pricing policies GO WORK SOMEWHERE ELSE. You are paid to SELL the drug not side with the customes. Seriously this is a business people
     
  8. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I support 90% of what BMS does but at some point you have to ask wtf? Blindly going along with everything your employer says or does makes you an idiot. Remember Peter Dolan and his band of fools?
     
  9. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I don't feel I've ever been asked to leave my brain and my heart at home. You may just be over focused on the empathy side
     
  10. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    this from somebody that doesn't work for you or the pharmaceutical industry, I guess you can put a price on human life. You do this every day
     
  11. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Maybe we can't put a value on human life but can you put a value on research

    Forbes: It can cost more than $5 billion to bring a drug to market
    More than 95% of experimental meds fail, research shows
     
  12. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Well, as long as you want to quote Forbes, Your boy Lamberto is the 7th highest paid CEO in the industry some 20% above the medium. Maybe the patients are paying for CEOs who have failed before him too. Now, here is a question for the rest of BMS marketing and sales, are you being paid 20% above the medium as well?
     
  13. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Never mentioned Lamberto in my comment and don't care what he makes. I care what I make and don't whine after I accept a employment agreement.
     
  14. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    We make 20% below medium.
     
  15. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    I don't work for BMS but sell in oncology - in a disease state with low survival statistics but many new therapies on the horizon ...most of which offer incremental (small) increases in survival but they are adding up over time from months to years...you just give the facts and let providers and patients decide if it's worth it... and thank your lucky stars if you have a good managed care team and patients have good insurance because if they had to pay out of pocket or even 20% co-insurance they might decide depending on their circumstances "it's a good day to die" and you have to respect that...and hope you're company does too when they set your quotas. Otherwise time to quit this gig, which I see coming to an end soon when manufacturers wake up and realize ...but oh that's another whole discussion,,,,
     
  16. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Go away you troll!
     
  17. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    median

    Aaaaarrrgggghhhh!
     
  18. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Not all new drugs offer small improvements. Some have striking effects
     
  19. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Viagra is worth the money
     
  20. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    It is a vicious cycle: R&D is expensive however it is not the factor that determines the cost of our drugs. It is supply and demand. If supply and demand did not support such high prices then perhaps we would shut down the Oncology research like we did antibiotics which would only support revenue of about $250 Million per drug. ie Cefzil, Tequin and others. We ended up losing money. So now we go where the money is...Oncology. The customer pays a fortune and we use those dollars to support R&D, manufacturing, marketing and profit. We get criticized for such high prices but everyone knows we will never come up with better therapies except through long extensive and expensive R&D, taking baby steps in improvements.

    In just a few years today's expensive therapies will be cheap generics and the name brand therapies will be slightly better and cost a fortune. The cycle will go on until there is a cure. But without supply and demand supporting high prices none of this will ever happen.

    It sucks to think that this is the way to make progress but it's the cold hard reality.