FDA Panel Urges Stronger Warnings for Anemia Drugs

(Page 3)

"We need to have [Medicare] reimbursement guidelines that remove some of the incentives for off-label use of these drugs," Singh said.

Lichtenfeld noted these drugs make up the majority of medications reimbursed by Medicare for treating cancer patients. "And their use has been going up every year," he added.

"There appears to be a substantial off-label use of these drugs," Singh said. "Physicians need to be cognizant of the label, because it is put into place in a deliberate and thoughtful manner. The off-label use needs to be curtailed."

The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Amgen and Johnson & Johnson paid doctors millions of dollars in rebates to use these drugs.

"Such payments -- to cancer doctors and the other big users of the drugs, kidney dialysis centers -- total hundreds of millions of dollars a year and are an important source of profit for doctors and the centers. The payments have risen over the last several years, as the makers of the drugs, Amgen and Johnson & Johnson, compete for market share and try to expand the overall business," the Times reported.

Doctors quoted in the article said their use of the drugs was influenced by the amount of money they could make and the belief that the drugs were useful.

More information

For more information on these anemia drugs, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.