Pricey Drugs Put Squeeze on Doctors

By MARILYN CHASE July 8, 2008; Wall Street Journal Page A1 SAN FRANCISCO -- Long a burden for patients, hyperexpensive cancer drugs are causing economic havoc for another constituency in U.S. health care: doctors. American doctors rarely used to let costs factor into their treatment decisions. But rising prices -- some cancer drugs now cost more than $100,000 a year -- are dramatically changing that ethos in the field of oncology. Money issues are now disrupting relationships with patients, causing doctors to go into debt and threatening to interfere with treatment options.