Mark Lewis: Treatment almost always has to be tolerable for it to be effective
Mark Lewis shared a post on X by Mark Cuban, Entrepreneur owner of Cost Plus Drugs, adding:
“One of the things I tell my patients is that treatment almost always has to be tolerable for it to be effective.
Antinausea drugs have become so potent that it is rare for my patients to vomit.
Approving chemo without antiemetics is a half-measure by any insurer.”
Quoting Mark Cuban’s post:
“Hey, Elevance Health your WellPoint Texas Medicaid pre-certifications are delaying the start of treatment for oncology infusion patients in critical need.
For one patient his 3 chemo drugs don’t require any pre-cert, but the accompanying anti-nausea drugs do require pre-certifications. Clinics won’t schedule patients until the authorizations are approved, so he’s stuck.
The two anti-nausea drugs Palonosetron and Fosaprepitant are $5 and $16 on Cost Plus Drugs Marketplace.
Why are you making patients wait to start treatment over these low-cost generic meds?”
Sources: Mark Lewis/X and Mark Cuban/X
Mark A. Lewis is the Director of Gastrointestinal Oncology at Intermountain Healthcare in Utah, the Co-Chair of adolescent and young adult (AYA) oncology in the SWOG cooperative group, and the Vice President of American Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Support.
Dr. Lewis is also a well-known patient advocate and social media influencer. His interests are neuroendocrine tumors and cancer syndromes.