Heard in the Blogosphere
BACK of the BOOK
ASH
@ ASH _ hematology
Congress is now beginning to turn its attention to the FY 2019 budget . Contact your reps in support of sustained and predictable funding for NIH # Fight4Hematology
Broken Promises Caused by the Travel Ban
“ Tens of thousands of students from countries affected by the travel ban , with already limited access to their parents , relatives , and friends , will be further thrown into uncertainty and isolation . They will need immense support from their communities to stay sane and carry on . I know this , because until not too long ago , I was one of these students . … For the vast majority of [ foreign ] graduate students in STEM who are tied to their benches , going back home was never an option . … The de facto consequence of this policy is years of forced isolation for these students and scholars that they never signed up for . … With the courts having vacated this responsibility , it is on us the citizenry to step up to the plate and preserve and protect the spirit of this promise .”
— Hani Goodarzi , PhD , on how the Trump administration ’ s travel ban affects foreign graduate students , in The Scientist
Navneet Majhail , MD
@ BldCancerDoc
Just signed prior authorization form for Azithromycin ; it costs less than insurance company time + my / my team ’ s time + faxing + paper / supplies etc . costs that it took to get this done # HealthcareFail # HealthcareAbsurdity
Shannon McNamara , MD
@ ShannonOMac
“ I hear that you aren ’ t taking your medicines . I ’ m curious about why . What can I do to help you feel better ?” So many “ noncompliant ” patients have good reasons for their behavior . “ Care ” is being curious about that experience & working together toward a common & meaningful goal .
Stephen John Senn , PhD
@ stephensenn
“ I just need a statistician to tell me that the experiment I designed without their help is excellent .” # blessingthedesign
A New Cancer Care Dilemma
Immunotherapy , like immune checkpoint inhibitors or chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy , presents a source of hope for patients living with cancer . But according to clinicians who spoke with STAT News , it has created a new clinical dilemma : Patients are asking them for immunotherapy , even when there is little to no evidence that the drugs will be effective for their types of cancer . Issues with insurers and financial considerations further complicate the decision .
“ Whether it works or not , the burden both financially and emotionally on families and patients is massive . If you try it and it doesn ’ t work , then you ’ ve used up all your life savings .”
— Vicki Jackson , MD , MPH , chief of the Palliative Care Division at Massachusetts General Hospital
“ Is it ethically and morally appropriate to not offer these potentially curative options on the basis of a very slight difference in kidney or liver function ?”
— Ephraim Hochberg , MD , a lymphoma specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital
“ The guidelines can ’ t keep up with the pace of research . As we learn more and more and develop better treatments , certain patients fall into these loopholes where we understand the biology of what ’ s going on , we have a treatment , but you can ’ t explain it to the insurer .”
— Zofia Piotrowska , MD , a lung cancer specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital
“ If we are avoidant of new therapies because of the risk , the lack of data , or the cost , breakthrough therapies like [ CAR T-cell therapy ] and bone marrow transplant would never be developed . When you are faced with this , people are willing to take risks for a chance to live .”
— Julie Guillot , mother of a 5-year-old with acute myeloid leukemia who died in 2014
Are Drug Prices in Ads a Bad Idea ?
Follow ASH and ASH Clinical News on :
@ ASH _ Hematology , @ BloodJournal , @ BloodAdvances , and @ ASHClinicalNews
Facebook . com / AmericanSocietyofHematology
@ ASH _ Hematology
“[ Requiring manufacturers to include drug prices in directto-consumer advertising ] is a great populist idea , but would it really help consumers or drive down pricing ? … Selecting a treatment for a disease isn ’ t like choosing a car . … Consumers don ’ t have unrestricted access to advertised prescription medications . They need a doctor to prescribe a treatment …, their insurer has to cover it – or they have to be prepared to pay out of pocket for it . The price they ’ ll actually pay will vary too , depending on their health plan and even their location . An ad won ’ t give them any of that . Instead , it will give them just a price which , for most people , won ’ t be anything like what they ’ ll actually pay for the medication .”
— Craig Martin , on the downsides of displaying prices in pharmaceutical advertisements , in STAT News
ASHClinicalNews . org ASH Clinical News
37