SALLY PIPES: Avastin: The Fatal Move From The FDA. “On Dec. 17 the Food and Drug Administration is expected to take the radical step of revoking approval for an advanced drug in the treatment of one of the country’s most deadly diseases.” Because it’s too expensive.

Related: Death Panels Begin. “This was about cost-cutting, not medical efficacy as we’ve repeatedly shown. Ironically, at about the same time the FDA was making its decision, the EU ruled to continue recommending Avastin. So, for breast cancer patients, there is more choice in Europe than the US.”

UPDATE: Derek Lowe disagrees: “I think that the health care bill was a disastrous idea, myself, and at the same time I still think that Avastin doesn’t deserve approval for metastatic breast cancer. The best evidence we have is that Avastin doesn’t help these patients and may well even hurt them. That would be true even if it were free.” More here.