Episodes

  • A Healthier You - Prescription prices and patient access to medication

    A Healthier You - Prescription prices and patient access to medication
    Oct 23 2017
    Dr. Rafael Fonseca, a hematologist and oncologist at the Mayo Clinic, explains why the value of some prescription medications justifies a much higher price tag than other drugs used to treat the same problems.  Dr. Fonseca also discusses how the vast majority of patients have access to the better medications at greatly reduced costs and the frustrating pressure placed on doctors to try cheaper but less effective medications to save money.  He also tells us why robust competition is the best way to develop excellent medications at the lowest possible prices.
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    13 mins
  • A Healthier You - The Price of Cancer Drugs

    A Healthier You - The Price of Cancer Drugs
    Oct 23 2017
    I’m Dr. Rafael Fonseca, and this is A Healthier You. There is a heightened interest in the price of cancer drugs. As an oncologist, I understand that there is a natural tension between what is perceived as the proper price of medicines, and what is a business-sustaining model that would allow innovation to flourish.  The reality is that the vast majority of patients, irrespective of their economic status, can receive their cancer medications.  In my clinic, we see patients from all walks of life, many with fixed income, and yet most of the time they can all get their drugs. Nothing is easier than pharma-bashing, but before we potentially stifle innovation in the name of “affordable medications”, let’s think twice. The alternative may be to tell cancer patients that we don’t think their lives are worth the cost of innovation. For more details, go to Facebook/BetterHealthCarePolicy.

     
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    1 min
  • A Healthier You - Doctors pressured to limit the use of costly new drugs

    A Healthier You - Doctors pressured to limit the use of costly new drugs
    Oct 23 2017
    I’m Dr. Rafael Fonseca and this is A Healthier You. Oncologists like myself are under increasing pressure to balance the needs of “society” with those of our patients by limiting the use of costly new drugs. Health care payers are using research from groups like the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, or ICER, to determine access to newer medicines. But this academic research does not reflect the real-world use of new medicines in clinical practice, and its misuse poses a danger to patients.  Denial of coverage, requirements such as “first fail” or increased co-pays based on such studies will negate the progress achieved in the treatment of cancer, to the detriment of patients. We physicians cannot serve two masters. In a choice between the welfare of patients and “society,” our responsibility is to the patient. For more details, go to Facebook/BetterHealthCarePolicy.

     
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    1 min
  • A Healthier You - The fallacy driving the debate about drug prices

    A Healthier You - The fallacy driving the debate about drug prices
    Oct 23 2017
    I’m Dr. Rafael Fonseca  As an oncologist, I am concerned that there is a fallacy driving the debate about drug prices.  That is the notion that there are many situations where a physician can choose between two medicines that are equivalent, with the only difference between them being their price. This in turn leads to the argument that we need more comparative studies of drugs’ costs versus their effectiveness, so that doctors can make informed choices based on economic considerations. In reality, when multiple treatments exist, there are usually differences between them in either efficacy or safety. A choice based on cost alone will almost always have to sacrifice either efficacy or safety. That’s not a sacrifice patients should be asked to make. Let’s put this fallacy to rest and base medical decisions on medical factors. For more details, go to Facebook/BetterHealthCarePolicy.

     
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    1 min
  • A Healthier You - An Informed Patient is An Empowered Patient

    A Healthier You - An Informed Patient is An Empowered Patient
    Aug 29 2017
    This is Bob Tufts of My Life is Worth It for A Healthier You. As a multiple myeloma patient, I am eager to be an informed and vocal participant in my own health care decisions. How should doctors react to a patient like me? I would argue that empowered patients are the best partners a doctor could have. In an era where insurance companies and medical administrators focus far too much on dollars and not patients, physicians and patients should foster strong relationships, and be allies in the effort to get the right care at the right time. We should work together to break down barriers and allow cancer patients like me to have hope that we will endure. When doctors are able to treat us as individuals and try to satisfy our needs and stated goals, real value in health care is created. For more details, go to Facebook/BetterHealthCarePolicy.

     
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    1 min
  • A Healthier You - Refocusing Health Care on Patients

    A Healthier You - Refocusing Health Care on Patients
    Aug 29 2017
    This is Bob Tufts of My Life is Worth It for A Healthier You. When I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma over eight years ago, the median survival rate was only one to three years. Luckily for me, science and biomedical innovation have changed that. Ten new myeloma treatments were introduced in the past year. The five year survival rate for myeloma patients is now almost 50 percent, and at some hospitals it is 63 percent.. In the eight years since my diagnosis, I have taught over 1500 students at three colleges, served as a school advisor, and coached hundreds of young baseball players at Major League Baseball Players Alumni clinics. I want all cancer patients to have those extra years to enjoy life, and contribute to society. That’s why we must stop mindless cost-cutting, and refocus our health care system on patients. Our lives are worth it. For more details, go to Facebook/BetterHealthCarePolicy.

     
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    1 min
  • A Healthier You - The Demanding Patient

    A Healthier You - The Demanding Patient
    Aug 29 2017
    This is Bob Tufts of My Life is Worth It for A Healthier You. As a multiple myeloma patient, I have strong views on health care reform. This includes the belief that a demanding patient is good for the health care system. Improvement in health care is best accomplished through investment in innovation, not cost cutting. Patients like me are demanding innovation, because our lives are at stake. Our demand is that we have access to and choice in treatments without third parties, public or private, placing unnecessary obstacles in our path. We will push back against restrictive insurance rules and formularies, obscene co-pay requirements, and time consuming data entry requirements that waste doctors’ time. We will work with doctors to focus attention on cures, not dollars. The “demanding patient” will create a better health care system, for everyone. Because we are all patients, eventually. For more details, go to Facebook/BetterHealthCarePolicy.

     
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    1 min
  • Patient Advocate & Cancer Survivor Bob Tufts - Gov't Involvement in Health Care

    Patient Advocate & Cancer Survivor Bob Tufts - Gov't Involvement in Health Care
    Aug 18 2017
    Former Major League pitcher and cancer survivor Bob Tufts explains why increased government involvement and penny-pinching insurance companies are making doctors fearful of exploring novel medical treatments for patients and are instead applying a cook-cutter approach to health care.  As a result, the lives of many Americans are needlessly at risk.  Tufts, who is now a patient advocate and co-founder of "My Life Is Worth It," says he would be dead if he got sick in a country with government-run care and offers his advice for making sure the U.S. doesn't follow suit.

     
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    12 mins