Quoted from http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/doctors-grow-wary-of-avastin-for-eye-treatment/
Doctors Grow Wary of Avastin for Eye Treatment
By ANDREW POLLACK
October 4, 2011, 9:51 am
Dr. Robert Feig, a retina specialist in Brooklyn and the Bronx, says he wants to save patients and Medicare money by treating eye diseases with a drug that costs $50 a dose, rather than one that costs $2,000 a dose.
But three recent incidents around the country in which a total of 21 patients lost some or all vision in the affected eye after injections of the less expensive drug have made him fearful of a malpractice lawsuit, should something similar happen at his practice.
“Why would I want to risk my family to save America $1,950 a dose?” asked Dr. Feig. So even though he laments it, he is starting to use more of the expensive product, Lucentis, instead of the cheaper one, Avastin.
Similar trade-offs of cost versus perceived risk are being weighed across the country.