FDA panel right on Avastin

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As we pointed out in 2003 when Avastin-fever broke out, if Avastin works, it doesn’t work well enough to force insurers and taxpayers to pay for it. This is not to say that cancer patients should be barred from trying Avastin on their own dime but it’s unreasonable to force insurers and taxpayers to throw $8,000 per month at a drug that clinical trials show typically offers no, or at best, a very small benefit. Healthcare costs are already out-of-control. The last thing the system needs is extraordinarily expensive pharmaceuticals of dubious value (except to Roche). The libertarian in me says that people should be allowed to take whatever medicine they want. But the libertarian in me also says that you ought not be able to force me to pay for your snake oil.

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