Quick Hits: Packaging Leads to Waste for Expensive Chemo Drugs

One critic believes the group responsible for prescription drug prices should pressure drugmakers to produce smaller vials and provide refunds for the portions that aren’t used. The article discusses specific cases in which cancer patients had to pay for whole vials when they were only using a fraction of the contents. When dealing with high-cost drugs, the waste and financial ramifications are significant.  When questioned about vial size, Sanofi, the company that makes the patient’s medication, said the drug is packaged according to the “typical dose for the majority of the patient population” and to compensate for spillage during while the drug is administered.