Health and Disability

Even patients with health insurance who have multiple myeloma may be vulnerable to "financial toxicity" - including those who make over $100,000 a year - because of the higher use of novel therapeutics and extended duration of myeloma treatment, researchers from Penn's Abramson Cancer Center report in this week's Lancet Haematology. Nearly half of the 100 patients surveyed tapped into their savings to pay for their care, and 17 percent reported delays in treatment due to costs, the team found. Ten stopped treatment altogether.

A relatively new term, "financial toxicity" is described as the burden of out-of-pocket costs experienced by patients that can affect their wellbeing and become an adverse event of treatment. Past studies suggest patients frequently employ coping mechanisms to help defray out-of-pocket costs, some which comprise treatment adherence. It may also negatively impact quality of life--and some reports suggest it may even contribute to increased mortality.