Live from the Chemo Room 18

Saw Dr. Z. All's good so far. We won't scan again for about 5 weeks, so I don't expect to have much news on my progress until then.

I don't think I mentioned the fun news I received from my insurance company when I went to restart my Xeloda prescription (oral chemo). The copay for a 14 day supply went from $35 in 2011 to, wait for it, two-hundred-and-fifty dollars and no sense! (neither the amount nor the word "sense" is a typo).  The logic, if you can call it that, is that there is an equivalent drug available that is delivered via a pump you wear for 3 days at a time. From what I've read, the pump is a pain in the butt, and there can be more side effects than you get from the oral drug.

The good news, and please share this with anyone taking expensive drugs, is that the manufacturer, Genentech, offers a program through which they will pay 80% of the co-pay amount, up to $1500 a year. Apparently, it's a fairly common thing for drug companies to do. The CFO in me admires the wisdom of this offer. Let's say you're the VP of Sales for the drug company. You've got this product that's worth $5,000 per prescription to you. You buy lunch for the staff of every oncology practice in the country, send the docs to boondoggles in Vegas, and your drug really takes off. A couple years goes by and the CEO says he needs you to generate another $100 million or else. The feedback from the satiated oncology practices is that some patients' insurance plans have really high co-pays for your drug, so they are using an alternative. "Hmmm," you think to yourself "if I make my drug cheaper, I lose revenue, and as I recall, that's bad. Man this VP stuff is hard!" You go home to your stay-at-home spouse, whom you under-appreciate and underestimate regularly. You tell him/her about the expensive drug and he/she responds with, "duh, send the patient a coupon." While that's the dumbest thing you ever heard, you do casually mention it to a coworker while waiting in the latte line the next morning.

A week later, a memo comes out announcing the co-worker's promotion to VP of Sales, the launch of the new co-pay drug card program, and wishing you well in your pursuit of new endeavors. You missed the point - picking up $1,500 a year for the patient allows you to generate $130,000 a year in top-line revenue. Duh.