Multiple myeloma is a blood cancer that ravages bone, leaving distinctive holes in its wake.
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Most patients today live much longer, in large part due to a drug with a horrific past.
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But Revlimid is also, I soon learned, extraordinarily expensive, costing nearly $1,000 for each daily pill.
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Even with my experience, the cost of Revlimid stood out. When I started taking the drug, I’d look at the smooth, cylindrical capsule in my hand and consider the fact I was about to swallow something that costs about the same as a new iPhone. A month’s supply, which arrives in an ordinary, orange-tinged plastic bottle, is the same price as a new Nissan Versa.
I wanted to know how this drug came to cost so much — and why the price keeps going up.
tl;dr A for-profit company trying to maximize profit.