Just a few weeks after President Donald Trump’s December promise that prescription drug prices would plummet "fast and furious," Patricia Brown checked into a California clinic for an infusion of Merck & Co.'s blockbuster cancer drug, Keytruda.
When the bill arrived, the clinic's charge for a 400 milligram dose dominated the page: $162,567.74.
Brown, an accomplished cook battling lung cancer, owed about $2,000.
But the six-figure charges to Brown and her insurance company show how quickly prices for cutting-edge medical treatments can balloon in the U.S. health care system. Someone has to pay: An employer, taxpayers, or regular people whose insurance premiums go up and up.
The price of Keytruda for Americans starts high and often heads higher. Merck lists Brown’s dose at an already steep $24,000. Then, depending on the insurer, the health care provider and any number of middlemen, prices can rise.
How Merck keeps prices for its blockbuster cancer drug sky high
After recently gaining recognition as the first professional Santa Claus with Down syndrome in the US,...
US healthcare officials recently said a food-poisoning outbreak tied to alfalfa sprouts and involving multiple germs...
Common personal care products widely contain unlabeled toxic chemicals, results from a new peer-reviewed study suggest....
