Five Rx Companies Establish Policies To Help Employees
Five pharmaceutical companies have established policies that they hope will lead an employer-based effort to fight cancer through prevention, detection and treatment of the disease among their employees and their families, the Wall Street Journal reports.
The pharmaceutical companies -- the U.S. divisions of AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, as well as Johnson & Johnson and OSI Pharmaceuticals -- have partnered with the American Cancer Society to establish the policies, which the companies hope will save lives, improve employee productivity and reduce health care costs.
In an effort to encourage other companies to establish similar policies, the pharmaceutical companies formalized them under a program called CEO Cancer Gold Standard.
Companies that seek accreditation for the program must expand access to cancer tests and offer no-cost smoking-cessation counseling and medication, as well as provide evidence of their commitment to physical fitness, healthy diet and weight control.
In addition, companies must provide evidence that they have eliminated cost issues for employees who develop cancer and seek to enter clinical trials for new medications (Hensley, Wall Street Journal, 4/18).