UnitedHealth affirms J&J, Amgen anemia drug policy

WASHINGTON, May 1 (Reuters) - UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), one of the biggest U.S. insurers, said on Thursday it would stand by its current payment policy for use of controversial but widely used anemia drugs sold by Amgen Inc (AMGN.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

That comes despite a more conservative payment policy of the Medicare health insurance program for the elderly and recent recommendations to restrict the drugs further by advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

"It's a philosophical difference," Lew Newcomer, senior vice president for oncology at UnitedHealth, told Reuters.

Tens of thousands of cancer patients are treated with the drugs for anemia caused by chemotherapy. Their safety has been under a cloud for more than a year after eight studies found tumor growth or shorter survival for some patients given higher doses.

The insurer now covers the drugs for patients when their hemoglobin level falls to 12 grams per deciliter of blood or lower, a more liberal policy than the Medicare program which aims for a hemoglobin level of about 10.

The drugs are genetically engineered forms of a protein that boosts production of red blood cells.

Newcomer said their use has fallen by about 35 percent since UnitedHealth set its payment policy in April 2007.

UnitedHealth is now doing its own comparable trial of sorts, because its Medicare patients are now getting the drug only when their hemoglobin falls to the lower figure, and patients with private insurance can get it under the more expansive coverage policy.

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