FDA approved Opdivo (nivolumab) with platinum-doublet chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment, followed by single-agent Opdivo after surgery as adjuvant treatment, for adults with resectable (tumors ≥ 4 cm and/or node positive) non-small cell lung cancer and no known epidermal growth factor receptor mutations or anaplastic lymphoma kinase rearrangements.
By law, the Food and Drug Administration is required to determine whether a drug, device, biologic, or medical device is “safe and effective.” But the FDA determination does not control whether the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will pay for it. To satisfy CMS, medical products and services must be “reasonable and necessary,” meaning...
