Cancer Treatment Costs Skyrocketing, Study Finds
Newly released research suggests that the rising cost of cancer treatments may cause some patients to turn down the care they need. According to the analysis, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, from 1990 to 2008, cancer care costs increased from $27 billion to $90 billion as new drugs were created and less invasive procedures discovered. Researchers agree that a great deal of the cost increase can be traced to financial incentives to doctors who prescribe more expensive drugs. Due to rising costs and increasing number of eligible patients, charities such as the American Cancer Society are able to help less people. In the past, the ACS could help one in five people with the medical bills. Today, they can only help one in six.


