Italy's Money-Back Guarantee for Cancer Treatments

Italy’s state-run health service is demanding a money-back guarantee when trying new cancer treatments, Bloomsberg Business reports.    The Italian Medicines Agency will pay pharma companies according to how well a patient responds to treatment. In some cases, where the medication fails to help, the drugmaker must provide a full refund.    Through this method, approximately 200 million euros ($220 million) was refunded to the Italian government for ineffective treatments last year, amounting to about 1 percent of total pharmaceutical spending.   With global oncology expected to reach $100 billion in 2018, Bloomsberg adds that Italy's money-back experiment is being monitored in the U.S. and across Europe.   http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-15/when-new-cancer-treatments-fail-italy-wants-its-money-back