States Provide Little Financial or Ethical Support for Clinical Cancer Trials

Only 26 states currently mandate coverage of participant’s costs for the routine care and complications associated with clinical cancer trials and fewer have standards associated with peer review, according to an article published in the March 17, 2010, Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Patrick L. Taylor, J.D., reviewed state laws that relate to insurance coverage for cancer clinical trials in the article, “State Payer Mandates to Cover Care in U.S. Oncology Trials: Do Science and Ethics Matter?”

He found that only four states require a scientific peer review of all studies and that 20 states consider that an “approved investigational new drug qualified as scientific review.” In addition, 24 states permitted trials without an academic medical connection, and 10 states allow approval from an institutional review board to replace a scientific review.

“Most states did not demand independent scientific review, IRB review, or basic ethical features of high-quality trials; provided partial coverage; omitted prevention, detection, and palliation research; and omitted mandated coverage for research-related injuries,” the author stated.

Taylor concluded that “further research on the impact of diverse state choices would improve policy making.”