A recent op-ed in The New York Times by Sam Waksal, the founder of the biotech firm ImClone who is probably best remembered for his involvement in a large insider trading scandal in 2002, caught ACSH's Dr. Josh Bloom s attention, largely for its absurdity. In the piece, Waksal argues that individuals and insurers should only pay for drugs that actually work, which he outlines in his "pay-for-response" pricing model.
But such a model, while it might sound plausible to those interested in cost savings, is completely unworkable, argues Dr. Bloom. The concept of determining whether drugs work for individual patients writes Dr. Bloom in his latest op-ed for Medical Progress today, to me, is simply insane.
To read about all of the reasons why Waksal s proposal is misguided, click here.
