Nearly $3 billion worth of cancer drugs are thrown away every year due to the size of the packaging, a new study found.
For this study, the research team at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and the University of Chicago examined 20 expensive and popular cancer drugs that have to be infused at the hospital or doctor's office prior to being used. They found that since many sellers use one-size-fits-all vials, which often contain a dosage of the drug that is too high for many patients, nurses would measure out the amount a patient needs and then throw out the rest for safety reasons.
"Drug companies are quietly making billions forcing little old ladies to buy enough medicine to treat football players, and regulators have completely missed it," said Dr. Peter B. Bach, director of the Center for Health Policy and Outcomes at Memorial Sloan Kettering. "If we're ever going to start saving money in health care, this is an obvious place to cut."
Bach is a co-author of the study.
The researchers found that in the U.S., insurance companies - both private and federal - and patients ended up paying drug manufacturers $1.8 billion per year for the amount of drugs that ended up being thrown away while spending around $1 billion on markups.
"This study reveals that billions of dollars are wasted on expensive cancer drugs, due to the way they are packaged in single doses," said John Rother, president and chief executive of the National Coalition on Health Care. "This practice greatly inflates profits but is waste that we can no longer afford."
The team also noted that in Europe, where some of the governments have a much larger role when it comes to drug distribution, some of the drugs are sold in smaller vials that lead to less waste.
The researchers added that not all drugs that end up being discarded are always related to cancer. For example, the waste generated from Johnson & Johnson's arthritis drug, Remicade, was worth an estimated $500 million. The drug brings in $4.3 billion in annual sales.
Allyson Funk, the senior director of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), commented about the report findings, stating that changing the drugs' vial sizes is harder said than done.
"Decisions regarding vial size are tied to a product's initially approved dosage and labeled use, taking into account that different patients will have different needs," Funk said. "Vial fill size must be approved by FDA as part of the sponsor's drug application and any excess volume must meet FDA standards outlined in regulations."
The study was published in the BMJ.
