Drugs may be denied on cost-cutting grounds
Posted on 09/25/2007 11:57:52 AM PDT by Stoat
More than half of the 900 GPs and hospital doctors who responded to the questionnaire in Doctor magazine said they had seen patients suffer due to the rationing of treatment.
Two thirds said they had been told not to prescribe certain drugs by their NHS trust, even though the results could be fatal.
The report also found that consultants often bounce patients back for a new GP referral to attract more funding, rather than refer them straight to a second consultant.
One GP, Dr Pradeep Sharma, described the health system as a "lottery" where a patient's survival could depend on their address.
Of those whose prescribing was rationed, 75% said it had been done on cost grounds.
Examples included specified branded statins, which are used to lower cholesterol, which 21% of respondents said they had been told not to prescribe, specified anti-obesity drugs (12%) and specified smoking cessation drugs (9%).
More than half of those surveyed thought provision of care on the NHS had to be limited, but wanted clarification about what could be provided by a tax-funded system.
Doctor magazine group editor Charles Creswell added: "Rationing in the NHS is inevitable, but the existing muddled system is putting lives at risk and provoking conflict between patients, doctors and NHS managers.
"We need a rationing process which is transparent, consistent, evidence-based and fair."
A Department of Health spokesman said: "Treatment in the NHS is delivered according to patients' clinical needs.
"Doctors and nurses make these clinical decisions with patients - not managers or politicians.
"The NHS has received an unprecedented funding boost in recent years, but finance is not endless and hard decisions will always have to be made about which treatments to provide."
Giving credit where it's due....I found this article because it's linked at OrbusMax
“We need a rationing process which is transparent, consistent, evidence-based and fair.”
BS, what you guys need is a competitive (i.e. free) market in healthcare, nor more rationing.
For many, the religion of Socialism is so deeply ingrained that alternate solutions are not even considered and oftentimes unknown.
I just got back from a trip to the UK, where we were on a bus tour. Of the two bus drivers, both were about 45-50 years old, and both of their wives had died. We didn’t query too close about what the cause was, but I had to think that if they had received good medical care, maybe one or both would have lived.
Another byproduct of Hitlery is a rationing of your “freedom” not to mention cutbacks to our military, the image of being weak presented to our enemies, and any number of disastrous byproducts that will help destroy our country. IMO, not a good future to contemplate with such an evil and sinister Marxist Liberal in power.
" Get this straight. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good. So what if a few peons die."
The doctor will come in and say "I could cure you, but the government has decided that you should die instead. Please go home and stop fighting it."
The only way the government can keep the rationing system going is by making it as opaque as possible.
Very scary stuff.
As decided by whom? The unelected, unaccountable, and unionized?
Also, rationing means someone deciding who does and who doesn't, as well as where,when, how, and how much. If that isn't kicking the door wide open to bribery I don't know what is.
Sadly true. We have to define a vision of what can be as much as advocate for making it happen.
It is a fact that countries like Canada, France and the UK spend less per capita on healthcare than we do in the US. It is also true that they get what they pay for - less healthcare. They wait in lines for treatments, don’t use the most current drugs, and some procedures are just not available. If you’re rich enough you can come to the US or pay for private treatment.
‘We didn’t query too close about what the cause was, but I had to think that if they had received good medical care, maybe one or both would have lived.’
Doubtful as Brits on average live longer than Americans, despite the NHS:
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_lif_exp_at_bir_mal-health-life-expectancy-birth-male
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_lif_exp_at_bir_fem-health-life-expectancy-birth-female
And the English suffer far lower levels of diabetes, strokes, heart disease, lung diseases, cancer and blood pressure than Americans do, once again, despite the NHS! :)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5377794
‘If you’re rich enough you can come to the US or pay for private treatment.’
If you’re rich enough, you can stay in the UK and pay for private treatment. Britain has a large and very modern private health industry.
I often wonder why foreigners seem to think because we have an NHS service, we don’t have a large private health service as well? Most decent jobs in Britain include private medical insurance so employees and their families don’t need to use the NHS.
“Two thirds said they had been told not to prescribe certain drugs by their NHS trust, even though the results could be fatal.”
But, Her Heinous and all of the other RAT/lib/socialists are telling us that only by having the government take care of us will we have all of the free drugs we need! *sarc*
‘But, Her Heinous and all of the other RAT/lib/socialists are telling us that only by having the government take care of us will we have all of the free drugs we need! *sarc*’
Are the democrats proposing an entirely nationalised health service, or are they going to have a parallel private/public system running like we have in the UK?
heh. Under HillaryDieSoon&ShutUpAboutItCare, I'd like to see her little tools deny AIDS treatment to her primary constituency. Like that'll happen.
“Are the democrats proposing an entirely nationalised health service, or are they going to have a parallel private/public system running like we have in the UK?”
We aren’t sure. Each democRAT candidate has his own “plan”, and their plans change from day-to-day, depending on the audience.
Never said the Brits didn’t have private healthcare or private insurance. Since my aunt spent 20 years there as an economics professor at University of Essex, I’ve certainly heard of her experiences. That said, give me Johns Hopkins, Stanford, or some other major US hospital if my life was on the line.
When controlled for murder and auto accidents, which Americans die from at a far greater rate than any other industrialized nation, we are the longest living.
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