White Paper Suggests Cancer Patients May Not
Be
Receiving Appropriate* Care
NEW ORLEANS, LA (May 20, 2000) — A collaboration of the nation's
major cancer organizations, in partnership with the National Pharmaceutical
Council (NPC), today released a white
paper suggesting cancer patients may not be receiving appropriate*
pharmaceutical care. Although insufficient data has hindered assessment
of the pharmaceutical aspects of such care, the limited data that
is available suggests that underuse, overuse, and variations in
treatment exist – limiting the potential for pharmaceuticals
to improve survival and quality of life.
The white paper's findings uncover an immediate need to explore
the quality of pharmaceutical care for cancer. It points out that
advances in science have yielded improved cancer treatments and
expresses concern that these treatments may not always being used
optimally. Findings also indicate that there is a slow transition
of new knowledge into clinical practice.
Since little is known about the aspects of pharmaceutical care in
cancer, this white paper outlines steps to enhance quality assessment,
fill in the gaps and knowledge, and optimize application of pharmaceuticals
to cancer care. The paper states that critical to the success of
these measures is collaboration among the public and private sectors
in areas including research, education, advocacy and database and
information system development.
Since 1953, NPC has sponsored and conducted scientific, evidence-based
analyses of the appropriate use of pharmaceuticals and the clinical
and economic value of pharmaceutical innovation. NPC provides educational
resources to a variety of health care stakeholders, including patients,
clinicians, payers and policy makers. More than 20 research-based
pharmaceutical companies are members of the NPC.
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Please direct all media inquiries to Pat Adams, phone
(703) 620-6390.
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* Dr. Mark Chassin has defined poor-quality care using an overuse/undersuse/misuse
construct in which overuse refers to provision of a service when
the risk exceeds the potential benefit and underuse refers to failure
to provide an effective service when it would have produced a favorable
outcome.
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