What is the real cost of approved treatments for advanced prostate cancer and how much we should spend? These questions are rippling through the prostate cancer community and the general population.
We find ourselves in a time when both the federal and our state governments are struggling to pay for the costs of basic services. Massive numbers of people are out of work and many are losing their cars and their homes. Our economic future is in serious doubt. How to resolve our economic woes is debated with little consciences among people.
When Dendreon announced the price for the Provenge protocol, $93,000, people were outraged. How could a treatment that only offered a 4 month life extension cost so much? The real question that never really got voiced is: Is four months of additional life in an old man worth that much money?
To respond to these questions I posted on May 19, 2010 an article entitled Provenge, It Isn’t Over Priced, Its Actually A Bargain Basement Product (http://advancedprostatecancer.net/?p=1574). My conclusion was that when compared to the real cost of taxotere (chemotherapy) Provenge was cheap for the life extension it provided.