r/ProstateCancer • u/rezwenn • 1d ago
News Men ‘condemned to die’ as NHS won’t buy cheap prostate cancer drug
https://www.thetimes.com/article/d4c8ce59-b885-4334-a5d1-4555c80690a1?shareToken=e6f0e12e556368acea269074820871692
u/planck1313 1d ago
In Australia abiraterone is available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme meaning the maximum cost is about A$30 (=$US20) a month.
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u/ChoiceHelicopter2735 1d ago
“About 8,400 men with high-risk prostate cancer would benefit from abiraterone, a drug which reduces the risk of cancer returning by 50 per cent and improves survival rates by 40 per cent.
The drug costs less than £2.50 per day, but NHS England said it did not have the budget to pay for it, even though abiraterone is available to patients in Scotland and Wales.”
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u/Looker02 1d ago
In France: Honorary price included: €1171.98 for 30 tablets, approximately €40 per tablet.
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u/jacques-anquetil 1d ago
- why are men “spending their life savings” if the drug costs £2.37 a day? that’s £865 a year
- Keith ter Braak has a huge forehead
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u/Think-Feynman 1d ago
Keith spent 80k pounds on it? That's about 100 years worth. Something isn't adding up in this story.
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u/BernieCounter 1d ago
Yes, Ontario Cancer Care describes it in specific PCa cases, probably similar in rest of Canada. 🇨🇦
“Treatment of very high-risk non-metastatic prostate cancer in patients who are starting long-term androgen-deprivation therapy.” LT-ADT See: https://www.cancercareontario.ca/en/drugformulary/regimens/monograph/79021
And it will be covered for most cancer patients under the ODP: https://www.ontario.ca/check-medication-coverage/
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u/ProfZarkov 1d ago
Available here, in Wales!
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u/RosieDear 1d ago
Is there any "underground" availaibility whereas an English person might travel to Wales or order it online and have it shipped at a reasonable price?
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u/RosieDear 1d ago
I didn't see the exact science/tests into exactly how long, over thousands of subjects, the extention of life is/was?
When an article uses "saves their lives" - it always concerns me since it would seem "extends their lives" would be a more accurate medical term. We'd want to know exactly.....we do see where it works on about 1/2 or 40%, so it makes sense it extends many lives...not at all. But among those on who it works, what are the medians/averages? And how old....and how advanced were their cancers?
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u/BernieCounter 1d ago
Yes, the research that needs to be submitted to Health Canada, FDA etc and requires that a medication have benefits, and side-effects are understood etc. You can search/research yourself all the studies submitted for any recent application. Then after government approval, various medical groups (like Cancer Care Ontario) or clinics can recommend it as part of their protocol. And insurance companies, and each government medicare service can decide whether to pay for it. (And usually negotiate a price).
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u/IchiroTheCat 1d ago
Are there other ADT drugs available in England that reduce/block testosterone?
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u/pschmit12 1d ago
Sure. However the mechanism that abi uses is different than traditional ADT. Combining it with older drugs greatly improves outcomes. Traditional drugs stop the creation of testosterone. However eventually the cancer creates its own. Abi shuts down the receptors in the cancer preventing it from feeding. The two pronged attack works better. Im not a doctor nor am i 100% sure on the exact mechanism but i know their are very detailed studies showing it benefits many patients.
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u/vito1221 1d ago
But in the US, we are all screaming for a universal healthcare system like in England /S
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u/RosieDear 1d ago
This is why we use lifespan and averages. We can always pick out anecdotes and particular situations.....and, of course, Scotland also has universal care, etc.
Let's look.....
England: 79.1 years for males and 83.0 years for females,
USA: For males, it was 75.8 years, and for females, it was 81.1 yearsThat 3 year difference in men is MAJOR. This shows the big problem with statements such as yours (off the cuff). While this drug may do what it says, the results of it obviously do not move the needle and the USA loses by a mile (years of difference are a MAJOR indicator).
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u/BernieCounter 1d ago
However PCa and other medical issues are not the only ones affecting lifespan. Motor vehicle deaths, suicides, illegal drug use, and shooting deaths for males vary greatly by country and can also account for male longevity differences.
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u/Every-Ad-483 1d ago
Correct. The major factor is the nutrition and lifestyle/exercise practices (as particularly seen in the mean BMI) though. The military conflicts and their aftermaths also contribute (e.g., the Vietnam vets are over 70 now). But the details are not the point. The point is the overall priorities of society and their outcomes on longevity, whether the logical chain of consequences flows strictly through the medical system or outside of it.
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u/pschmit12 1d ago
Ridiculous. To deny a group of patients access to a generic drug because it doesn’t move a lifespan avg. is incomprehensible. As i read the government answer it’s a lack of money. Additionally it’s slow. Two solvable problems. Perhaps a little less slapping themselves on the back and a bit more empathy. Today its older men with prostate cancer. Who will be next? Fix the system and stop worrying about comparing life expectancies.
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u/RosieDear 1d ago
That's no reason to deny the drug.
My point was debunking the popular "oh, so you want socialist health cafe" bunk being stated.
Fact is, however you want to slice it, their health care works better than ours - at much less cost.
AND, this is just an anomaly since it is available elsewhere in the UK. A person who seeks to find imperfections can always do so. This will likely be fixed. There are many similar examples in the USA - often the other way around...for example, expensive treatments with no advantage over inexpensive ones....or sometimes even a disadvantage! Why should those be allowed?
Etc.
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u/planck1313 1d ago
You could have a universal healthcare system like Germany or Australia's where you can choose between public care (and abiraterone is US$20 a month) or to pay extra for private care.
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u/Special-Steel 1d ago
Widely available in the US. Approved as a Medicare Part B drug.