Drug shortages force docs to replace cancer drugs with more expensive meds

Big Pharma pulls a billion dollar bait-and-switch

Has this ever happened to you? You pick up the Sunday paper, and spot an unbelievable deal.

It seems too good to be true — and, of course, it is. You hustle down to the store, only to have the salesman claim that they “just sold” the last one. But he has plenty of more expensive models he’d just LOVE to show you.

We expect those kinds of bait-and-switch shenanigans by sleazy salesman — but you shouldn’t have to deal with them when you’re fighting cancer.

That’s why I’m galled to the core by a shocking new report published in the New England Journal of Medicine. It turns out Big Pharma is forcing cancer docs to replace your drugs with more expensive (and potentially much less effective) versions.

It’s a story almost too sickening to believe. Researchers surveyed 200 cancer docs. Four out of five said that at least once during the past six months they were unable to prescribe the cancer med of choice due to a “drug shortage.”

And guess which drugs ALWAYS seem to be suffering from a shortage? Cheaper generics.

Oncologists had to regularly make major changes to treatment programs. And way too often that change is substituting unproven drugs or much less successful ones.

And more often than not, these docs were switching to drugs that were dramatically more expensive than the meds they wanted to use. Sixty percent of docs reported having to use a more expensive, brand name drug when they couldn’t get their hands on a generic.

Awfully convenient for Big Pharma, wouldn’t you say? In fact, in some cases, doctors had to opt for a designer drug that was a whopping 140 times more costly.

Let’s face it — the only part of you that Big Pharma cares about is leather, foldable and sitting in your back pocket. And the worst part is that while drug companies are raking in BILLIONS in profits off of these so-called drug shortages, cancer doctors say you’re probably getting worse care.

It’s time to have a frank talk with your doctor — ask him about the drugs he’s using, and find out if they’re even his first choice. You may find that Big Pharma is laughing all the way to the bank, and the joke is on you.

- See more at: http://wrightnewsletter.com/2014/01/01/drug-shortages-force-docs/#sthash.GIcPPUV0.dpuf