Dianne Feinstein: “I am pleased today to join as an original sponsor with Senators Snowe, Smith and Rockefeller, a bill to provide Medicare…”

“I am pleased today to join as an original sponsor with Senators Snowe, Smith and Rockefeller, a bill to provide Medicare coverage of cancer drugs. More than 8 million Americans require some form of cancer care: 1.2 million of these are newly diagnosed patients; some are already on treatment; some need follow-up care. Over half a million people will die from cancer this year. Medicare, generally, does not cover cancer drugs. This bill will provide that coverage. Providing Medicare coverage of cancer drugs is particularly important in light of a promising new class of drugs that are becoming available. One of those drugs is Gleevec, formerly known as STI 571. I am greatly heartened by the news that on May 10 the Food and Drug Administration approved Gleevec for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia. Gleevec is revolutionary because it can precisely target the dysfunctional proteins that cause this cancer and it can disable cancer cells to the point that they are metabolically inactivated with 12 hours of administering the drug. Furthermore, Gleevec does not destroy the 'good' cells, as other treatments do. It helped over 90 percent of patients in clinical trials and holds great promise for other cancers. Scientists say this drug is the wave of the future. Not only is this drug highly medically effective, it is cost-effective. Gleevec is expected initially to cost around $25,000 annually.”