Over $1.4 Billion Wasted on Discarded Cancer Drugs According to Medicare Advantage, CMS Data

According to a recent data analysis by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Medicare Advantage, more than $1.4 billion was wasted on discarded units of chemotherapy and other cancer-treating drugs in 2017 and 2018.

“Most of this medication and financial waste is due to single-dose vials or containers of medications that include higher doses than are necessary to treat the average patient,” explained Medicare Advantage in its press release.

The waste can be attributed to manufacturers producing single-dose vials or containers that actually include higher doses than necessary for treatment. When a treatment is administered from the container, the remaining unused medicine is discarded.

“Profits are increased by billing for the whole vial, even if only a portion of it is needed and used,” stated Medicare Advantage in the press release. “Doctors and hospitals also enjoy bloated profit margins under this system.”

Data shows that Medicare wasted more than “$1 million per drug on discarded doses of 49 different drugs in 2018, most of them vital chemotherapy and cancer treatment drugs,” including bortezomib, cabazitaxel, topotecan HCL, and more.

In 2018, more than 25% of the total units of bortezomib, brand name Velcade, reimbursed by Medicare were discarded, amounting to over $122.5 million in waste. Medicare Advantage notes that the wasted money could have paid for an additional 3 million doses or enough of the drug to treat 6000 patients with cancer.

To put it in perspective, the $1.4 billion that Medicare spent on discarded drugs between 2017 and 2018 could pay for 87,000 hospital ventilators or nearly 16 ventilator for every US hospital, including prison infirmaries, explained Medicare Advantage. The wasted dollars could purchase over 1.1 billion N95 surgical masks, which have been scarce during the pandemic.

“Although the total amount of Part B spending on discarded drugs is high, it actually only accounts for about 2% of total Part B drug spending,” noted Medicare Advantage in the press release.

However, to make up for the 2% of wasted dollars, the report suggests requiring pharmaceutical companies to make more appropriate vial sizes, and for drugmakers, hospitals, and physicians to refund federal government’s expenses for discarded drugs. —Edan Stanley