Joel Ebert Nashville Tennessean Published 12:14 PM EDT Apr 5, 2019 A bill similar to a measure vetoed last year by former Gov. Bill Haslam was approved by the Senate on Thursday. The legislation, SB 195, allows state employees to utilize proton therapy, an alternative cancer treatment. Proton therapy is a form of targeted radiation that is not covered by all insurers in Tennessee. It is used for cancers of the brain, lung, breast and neck. When Haslam issued his veto of a similar proton therapy bill last year, he said the proposal would have circumvented an established process for determining employee insurance coverage. “The state plan currently covers many forms of radiation treatment, and the provider advocating this bill rejected a medically appropriate plan for expanded coverage to instead pursue a political mandate," he said at the time. Haslam said the state was committed to high quality care that is "fiscally responsible" for patients and taxpayers and the … [Read more...] about Proton therapy legislation approved by Tennessee Senate
Proton therapy at penn
Proton therapy bill resurfaces and passes Tennessee Senate; would allow employees to use alternative cancer treatment
NASHVILLE — It's a new year with a new governor and in the Tennessee Senate on Thursday, there was renewed hope for a better outcome on a bill vetoed last year by then-Gov. Bill Haslam. Senators voted 27-1 for the bill that would allow employees on the state's health plan to use an alternative treatment for cancer known as "hypofractionated proton therapy" under certain conditions. "This is something dear to my heart because my father died of prostate cancer back in 1988," said Sen. Becky Duncan Massey, R-Knoxville, whose father, U.S. Rep. John Duncan Sr., was 69 when he died. "This is very important to me." Massey said it would allow doctors and patients to decide whether to use proton therapy or more traditional radiation to treat tumors like those caused by prostate cancer. According to the Mayo Clinic website, proton therapy is a type of radiation therapy using high-energy beams to treat tumors. Radiation therapy using X-rays has long been used to treat cancers and … [Read more...] about Proton therapy bill resurfaces and passes Tennessee Senate; would allow employees to use alternative cancer treatment
Global Proton Therapy Market 2019 Industry Analysis, Share, Growth, Sales, Trends, Supply, Forecast 2025
WiseGuyReports.com adds “Proton Therapy Market 2019 Global Analysis, Growth, Trends and Opportunities Research Report Forecasting 2025” reports to its database. PUNE, MAHARASHTRA, INDIA, March 27, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Proton Therapy Market: Executive Summary Proton beam therapy is a type of particle therapy that uses photon ionizing radiation for irradiation of diseases tissues. It is the most advanced form of radiation therapy enhanced with precise dose sculpting capability. It is relatively a niche radiation therapy with minimal radiation exposure, successfully eradicating potential side-effects of other forms of conventional radiation therapies. The proton therapy systems market by technology has been segmented into pencil beam scanning systems, uniform scanning systems and passive scattering systems. Pencil beam scanning being the most precise method of proton beam delivery has highest dosimetric advantage. Proton therapy has garnered immense popularity and has … [Read more...] about Global Proton Therapy Market 2019 Industry Analysis, Share, Growth, Sales, Trends, Supply, Forecast 2025
St. Louis medical organizations plan more proton therapy
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Despite problems at several proton centers across the country, St. Louis medical organizations are planning to increase their use of the cancer-treating procedure. Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital plans to open a second proton therapy center in 2020, and Mercy Hospital St. Louis expects to open its own proton center two years later, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Proton therapy zap cancerous cells with precise beams of radiation while sparing surrounding tissue. Unlike traditional X-rays, the proton beams stop at the tumor instead of traveling through the body. The new $32 million proton system planned at Barnes-Jewish Hospital will provide "pencil-beam" precision to target tumors, said Dr. Jeffrey Bradley, director of Siteman's S. Lee Kling Proton Therapy Center. It will be built next to a $20 million machine, which opened in late 2013, that uses magnets to scatter proton beams across a tumor. Siteman has treated about 800 patients with the … [Read more...] about St. Louis medical organizations plan more proton therapy
Patients seeking proton therapy get caught in expensive fight
If it's your heart, it might be worth any expense to reduce the odds you'll be one of the unlucky patients to suffer a side effect. If you're running the numbers, however, you would have to consider whether raising the cost to treat all 250 women is too high a price to prevent one serious side effect, since everyone who has insurance will share in that cost. Costs vary from center to center, but it isn't unusual for proton therapy to cost twice as much as other forms of radiation, because of the high costs associated with equipment. The American Society for Radiation Oncology recommends proton therapy in limited cases: tumors in the central nervous system, head, neck, liver, eye and some soft tissues of the abdomen; children's cancers; people who have undergone radiation before; and those who have a genetic condition that makes avoiding excess radiation especially important. For more common tumors, like breast, prostate and lung cancers, it recommends coverage only when a patient is … [Read more...] about Patients seeking proton therapy get caught in expensive fight