Waste in Cancer Drugs Costs $3 Billion a Year, a Study Says

WASHINGTON — The federal Medicare program and private health insurers waste nearly $3 billion every year buying cancer medicines that are thrown out because many drug makers distribute the drugs only in vials that hold too much for most patients, a group of cancer researchers has found.

NCODA’s view: Cancer drug waste is something we see in our practices everyday. The follow up study that should be done is how much cancer drug waste occurs with the dispensing of oral cancer medications. All NCODA member practices strive to minimize this waste by managing the patients oral medications in real time.

All patients who have their medication dispensed by an NCODA member practice will rarely have a fill or refill that a patient will not take. We do this because we are in the oncology practice and are part of the patient’s cancer care team. We know when a scan or test will be performed. We know when the patient will be seeing their doctor. We know when a patient’s dose has been changed or their treatment held or stopped.

We verify how much drug the patient has on hand and confirm dosing with their oncologist before every dispense. We have complete access to the patient’s medical record and we see our patients face to face with every dispense. Their is little doubt, that oral cancer medications dispensed by an NCODA member practice is by far, the most convenient and cost effective solution to managing oral cancer medications.