Ed Notes Online – When the drug maker Genentech introduced a major product in 2006, it found itself in an awkward position: persuading eye doctors to start using its new more expensive drug instead of a popular cheaper version that the company already sold.
Ophthalmologists had been enthusiastically using the company’s cancer drug Avastin, which cost about $50 a dose, to treat a common eye disease in the elderly, wet macular degeneration. Then Genentech introduced Lucentis, a nearly equivalent drug that cost $2,000 a dose and was approved specifically to treat the disease. Use of Lucentis took off, and it has become one of Medicare’s most expensive treatments — costing the federal government about $1 billion a year — even though several studies have concluded Lucentis has no significant advantage over its cheaper alternative….. Paid to Promote Eye Drug, and Prescribing It Widely.
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So the NY Times article in yesterday’s business section of the NY Times was, excuse the expression, an eye opener. But I should have known as a simple search shows a long history of exposing the story.
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Eye Doctors Say Their Profits Are Smaller Than Data Makes …
www.nytimes.com/…/eye-doctors-say-their-profits-are…
The New York TimesApr 9, 2014 – Credit Michael Nagle for The New York Times … The most expensive drug, Lucentis, which is used for macular degeneration, as well as for …
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Genentech Offers Secret Rebates to Promote Lucentis …
www.nytimes.com/2010/11/04/…/04eye.html?…all
The New York TimesNov 3, 2010 – The rebates were used to promote the drug Lucentis even though another … outlining the program that was obtained by The New York Times.
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Paid to Promote Eye Drug, and Prescribing It Widely – The …
www.nytimes.com/…/paid-to-promote-eye-drug-and-…
The New York Times20 hours ago – Lucentis, at $2,000 a dose, is similar to Avastin, at $50 a dose. Continue reading … Credit Michael Nagle for The New York Times …. He says he is not influenced by the money he receives in compensation for his time. “People …
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Doctors Grow Wary of Avastin for Eye Treatment – NYTimes …
prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/…/doctors-grow-wary-of-avastin-for-ey…Oct 4, 2011 – asked Dr. Feig. So even though he laments it, he is starting to use more of the expensive product,Lucentis, instead of the cheaper one, Avastin …
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Clinical Trial Says Avastin as Effective as Lucentis for …
www.nytimes.com/2011/04/29/…/29eye.html
The New York TimesApr 28, 2011 – New York Times … The trial compared the effectiveness of Lucentis, a drug approved to treat one … While this did not translate into a difference in vision at the end of one year, the time point measured in the trial, it might do so …
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Italy Fines Novartis and Roche in Collusion Case – NYTimes …
www.nytimes.com/…/italy-fines-novartis-and-roche…
The New York TimesMar 5, 2014 – Instead, they said, the companies had tried to “channel demand toward the much more expensive drugLucentis, through an artificial distinction …
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Price Difference Lucentis And Avastin – Business Insider
www.businessinsider.com/price-difference-lucentis-and-a…
Business InsiderJun 6, 2014 – Ranibizumab, more commonly known by its brand name Lucentis, …. In November 2010, The New York Times reported that Genentech was …
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Medicare Data Reveals $1 Billion a Year for Costly Eye Drug
www.bu.edu/…/medicare-data-reveals-1-billion-a-year-…
Boston UniversityApr 11, 2014 – The Globe reports that Lucentis is more than six times more costly than an … BU Today: The New York Times analysis of recently released …
