Nikhil Munshi believes caregivers should be informed about the newer medicines so they can be aware of potential side effects as well as medicine's responsibility to take a holistic approach to patients' lives post-treatment.
Cancer care is expensive, more expensive than many other care, because of drug, because of the complication, because of the testing we have to do, and what are their side effects that we have to manage, etc.
From the physician's point of view, we need to be aware of the right drugs at the right time. We need to be aware of the newer data that shows can we select the drug for a patient? Very importantly, we need to tailor the treatment to what patients can take, what their expectations are, and what they can tolerate. Some of this seemingly simple solution probably can go a long way in ability of patients to manage their disease without having their bank broken.
Also, we should be aware of, there should be education about how patients can get help. The drugs are expensive, but there are many attempts companies have programs to supplement and telling patients that information. Educating them will provide that connection to make it affordable.
