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Originally Posted by TheMercenary
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But under the insurance plan, she can the only receive "palliative" or comfort care, because the drug does not meet the "five-year, 5 percent rule" -- that is, a 5 percent survival rate after five years.
A 2005 New England Journal of Medicine study found the drug erlotinib, marketed as Tarceva, does marginally improve survival for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer who had completed standard chemotherapy.
The median survival among patients who took erlotinib was 6.7 months compared to 4.7 months for those on placebo. At one year, 31 percent of the patients taking erlotinib were still alive compared to 22 percent of those taking the placebo.
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So, going by averages, if you take the drug for 6 months until you die, you have gained 2 months at a cost of $24,000.
Including the death option in the same letter as the denial was insensitive, but I can see where someone would want the information. I heard John Wayne tried to commit suicide during his final months.
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