The growing number of biologic drugs for cancers and other seriousconditions is a harbinger of things to come — in moreways than one. These drugs demonstrate that basic research intomechanisms of disease can lead to innovative treatments thatturn fatal conditions into chronic disorders. But recent headlinesabout their high costs — often $50,000 to $100,000 peryear — serve as warnings about the financial and ethicalchallenges we will increasingly encounter throughout medicine.
Because of the rising number of such high-priced medications,some insurers have begun to revise their tiered drug-copaymentstructures, which have generally delineated . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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Dr. Lee is network president at Partners Healthcare System, Boston, and an associate editor of the Journal. Dr. Emanuel is the chair of the Department of Bioethics, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.
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