COST ANALYSIS OF ANTI-CANCER DRUGS USED IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Shariva Suvarnn Ranadive

Abstract


Background: Anti-cancer drugs are costly & are the main reasons for poor compliance in India & with increase in number of anti-cancer medicine brands, there can be difficulty in prescribing more cost effective brand to the patient.[3] Therefore it becomes increasingly necessary to examine issues of comparability across different pharmacological agents as well as individual user costs to influence the compliance of patients.

Aim: To evaluate the cost of anti-cancer drugs of different generic classes & different brand names & to analyse price variation among various anti-cancer drugs available in India.

Methodology: The Current Index of Medical Specialities android app containing the latest updates was used to analyze the prices of various anti-cancer drugs. The cost of each molecule of different strengths was tabulated and cost range and % price variation were calculated.

Results: A wide range of cost variations were seen among different categories of anticancer drugs with maximum price variation was observed in Zoledronic acid [18000%] and the least price variation was seen in Pemitrexate 500 mg.

Conclusions: Price control mechanism has an important role and is very much important to reduce the cost burden of treatment particularly in India.


Keywords


comparison, anti-cancer drugs, Indian brands, Current Index of Medical Specialities

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References


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