Friday, April 8, 2011

Blood Cancer Treatment Cost

There are different methods of treating blood cancer either through drug or blood transfusion are include in options.The drug which is use in the treatment of blood cancer deals with a group of bone marrow disorders where the marrow doesn't form sufficient of one or more types of blood cells.Blood cancer influence around 700 patients.

Carole Longson one of the health technology evaluation center director at NICE, said the drug was not a proper cure but it had the ability to extend victims' lives by an average of nine months.The drug which is use in treatment is a very expensive drug but the manufacturers have submitted a patient access scheme where the cost will be reduced.NICE's verdict means the drug would be accessible for victims via the taxpayer-funded National Health System (NHS).The drug is priced at around 45,000 pounds ($72,000) per victim per year after the discount level.

Another treatment option of blood cancer is transfusion of blood.A blood transfusion is a protected , common procedure.Each and every person has one of the following blood types: A, B, AB, or O. Also, every person's blood is Rh-positive or Rh-negative. So, if  a person has type A blood, it's surely A positive or A negative.In this procedure blood is given to victim through an intravenous line in one of victims blood vessels.

A transfusion is done when body can't make blood properly because of an illness or disease.During a blood transfusion, a little needle is used to insert an IV line into one of  the blood vessels. Through this line body receive healthy blood. The procedure normally  takes 1 to 4 hours depending up on the quantity blood that patient needs.

The cost of  RBC transfusions in cancer patients has became higher now because overhead costs and fixed costs might have been underestimated in past.Age, kind of tumor , and geographic variations also have a abundant impact on the cost of blood.In 1998 dollars, the average cost per RBC unit was $469 for adults and $568 for pediatric cancer patients.

Adults and children usually received two and one RBC units per transfusion respectively. Therefore, the average cost of a two-unit transfusion was $938 for adults. Patients with hematologic tumors required more RBC units (7.1 RBC units per year) at a higher average cost ($512 per RBC unit) than patients with solid tumors (4.7 RBC units per year, $474 per RBC unit). Further variations across tumor types were observed. Overhead, direct material, and direct labor represented 46%, 19%, and 35% of total costs respectively.

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