Index – Economics – Here’s the most expensive heart drug in the world



[ad_1]

Transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy is a relatively rare heart disease that affects approximately 120,000 people in the United States. According to the description, the rock-hearted man, that is, Baradlay Kazimir, the novel figure of Jókai, may have suffered in this or at least something like that. (The author himself mentions the “petrification of the cardiac artery”, but the name and description refer more to amyloid deposition).

During the course of the disease, abnormal substances are deposited in the muscles of the heart, causing it to harden, loosen more after contractions, and eventually terminate service. Until now, the disease has been virtually incurable, possibly with a combined heart and liver transplant, as the abnormal proteins are produced in the liver but deposited in the heart.

Mechanism of dissociation of the TTR protein

Mechanism of dissociation of the TTR protein

Photo from ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

However, the world’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturer, Pfizer in the United States, has found the solution, in stunningly simple form: all you need to do is take a pill that also has few side effects.

HOWEVER, THE HISTORY OF THE MEDICINE, OR VINDAQUEL, THE PIRULA WITH THE ACTIVE SUBSTANCE TAFAMIDIS, COULD BE A FAIRY TALE, BUT IT HAS A BUNCH, AND ITS PRICE. IN THE UNITED STATES, THE COST OF TREATMENT OF $ 225 MILLION, OR MORE, IS $ 68 MILLION A YEAR, AND AT THE TIME, AMERICAN PATIENTS ARE ALREADY WELL.

In Japan, for example, the cost of annual therapy is $ 750,000 (225 million guilders).

In addition, the vast majority of patients are over 65 years of age, so the majority are retirees with lower incomes and, with a high probability, of trying to finance the cost of treatment with Medicare, the state health insurance system of USA Built for them. Until now, it might even be fine, but most of them couldn’t even afford the subsidized price of the drug, so

Despite the miracle cure, patients will not be cured.

Here, however, the manufacturer stepped in and promised to take over the payment of the patient’s portion generously (according to others, more out of his own well-conceived interest). In the United States, however, this is strictly regulated when it comes to taxpayers’ money. The Health Ministry feared that this would lead to an excessive increase in the number of treatments, possibly prescribing the drug to those who would not really need it, which could lead in the short term to the collapse of state-funded health insurance for the elderly.

As a result, the system passed to Pfizer and public patients either paid out of their own pockets or did not recover. The spiciness of the thing is that the manufacturer can pay the deductible for patients with private insurance without further ado. According to a report from a stock market monitoring site called Barron’s

THEREFORE, PFIZER HAS TURN AGAINST THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT,

which, in turn, points ahead of the specific case. If they win, and in their case still allow the authority to fund public patient co-payments, other manufacturers will have the right to claim the same, which in turn could justify initial fears of jumping on expensive drug prescriptions and, in Ultimately ruining the system. A respected insurance expert, Ge Bai, of Johns Hopkins University, said that the victory of the domino principle would mean a victory for Pfizer.

THE COURT EXCLUSION MAY BE SUPERVISED BY THE PHARMACEUTICAL MANUFACTURERS AND, OF COURSE, THE STOCK EXCHANGE.

The bigger picture also includes the US federal government suing several drug manufacturers, including Pfizer, for allegedly supporting Medicare patients illegally and encouraging their doctors to prescribe expensive drugs. The lawsuits are taking place amid President Trump and members of both parliamentary parties have begun to address cuts in Medicare drug spending, which has risen sharply over the past decade and currently stands at $ 168 billion a year. year. If Pfizer’s miracle cure reached all patients in need, it would cost taxpayers an additional $ 32 billion.

Echocardiography of an ATTR-CM patient

Echocardiography of an ATTR-CM patient

Photo: onlinejacc.org

The pandemic has shown that the resources of even the richest countries are finite.

This has already been said by Dr. Dhruv Kazi, a cardiologist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

Another irony of the story is that the company used a picture of a real transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy patient, Walter Feigenson, 72, to pay for the drug, for which it paid a total of $ 1,000 to a seriously retired retiree.

Mr. Feigenson’s total annual income is approximately one-tenth the price of the drug, and as a patient with state health insurance, he is currently only able to receive treatment with the support of various aid organizations. He, on the other hand, is not suing anyone, although perhaps he has the biggest reason for it.

(Cover Image: Drew Angerer / Getty Images Hungary)



[ad_2]