Hospitals furious at cancer-drug price hikes

Some of the nation's hospitals are seriously ticked off at Genentech, the San Francisco biotech firm, for implementing a stealth price hike for three critical cancer drugs. On September 16, Genentech told hospitals and oncology clinics that as of October 1, they can only buy Avastin, Herceptin and Rituxan—three of the biggest weapons in the cancer arsenal—through specialty distributors instead of general line wholesalers they've been using for years. The shift means hospitals will lose out on standard industry discounts—which Genentech and its distributors will then pocket.