Many new drug treatments cost around $100,000 a year. One of those most recent drugs is called Provenge. Provenge costs around $93,000 a year. Patients are wondering how much a life is really worth. Most are not willing to spend this much a year for their life. "I would not spend that money, because the benefit doesn't seem worth it," says Bob Svensson, age 80, a former corporate finance officer from Bedford, Massachusetts. For the last decade, new cancer-fighting drugs have been reaching $5,000 a month. Only a few of these keep cancer in remission so long that they are cures. For most people, the drugs may buy a few months or years. Some people are in it for life and more people are uninsured because of job layoffs in the recession. The nation's new health care law eliminates these lifetime limits for plans that were issued or renewed on September 23 or later. Many people would rather die early than pay so much to be treated.
I found this story on http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100926/ap_on_he_me/us_med_costly_cancer_drugs.
Would you pay this much to be treated? If not, how much do you think a life is worth?
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