Thought this might be of interest...love, joicy
1) Few Cancer Victims Test New Drugs
[05/15/99; Associated Press]
ATLANTA (AP) - Less than 5 percent of U.S. cancer patients take part in
experiments to test new treatments, a figure at least four times lower than
ideal to answer quickly the most pressing cancer questions, according
to a survey released Saturday. ``We need clinical trials to know
what works and what doesn't,'' said Dr. Allen Lichter, president
of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Cancer experts almost
universally endorse the need for patients to participate in formal
studies, but data on how many do so have been scarce. So the
oncology society, the nation's largest group of cancer practitioners,
commissioned a survey of about 7,000 of its members and released
the results at its annual meeting in Atlanta.
The full article can be found at:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ap/health/story.html?s=v/ap/19990515/hl
/cancer_experiments_1.html
------------------------------------------------------------
2) Insurers Should Pay For Cancer Trials, Doctors Say
[05/15/99; Reuters News Service]
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Cancer specialists demanded Saturday that private
insurers and government programs like Medicare start paying the routine
costs of patients enrolled in clinical trials to test new treatments. They
said an unusually small proportion of cancer patients take part
in such studies as compared to those with other diseases, and
part of the reason is that doctors are forced to pay a large
part of the expense out of their own pockets. But clinical trials
are the best way to find new and more effective treatments for
cancer, which is the second biggest killer of Americans after
heart disease, said Dr. Alan Lichter, president of the American
Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) at the society's annual
meeting in Atlanta.
The full article can be found at:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ts/story.html?s=v/nm/19990515/ts/health
_cancer_trials_1.html
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