Posted on 03/14/2010 9:51:17 PM PDT by llevrok
Needless: Up to 20,000 people have died early after being denied cancer drugs on the NHS (posed by models) Up to 20,000 people have died needlessly early after being denied cancer drugs on the NHS, it was revealed yesterday. The rationing body NICE has failed to keep a promise to make more life-extending drugs available.
Treatments used widely in the U.S. and Europe have been rejected on grounds of cost-effectiveness, yet patients and their loved ones have seen the NHS waste astronomical sums. Last week it emerged that £21billion - a fifth of the entire annual budget - was spent on failed schemes to tackle inequality. NICE, the National Institute of health and Clinical Excellence, promised a year ago to make it easier for drugs for rarer cancers to be approved. But since then four drugs which could have benefited 16,000 people have been turned down outright and a further six which could have helped 4,000 more have been provisionally rejected. Just five drugs have been accepted - benefiting 8,500 people - says a damning report by the Rarer Cancers Forum. Drugs for rarer forms of cancer are often much more expensive than those for common tumours because pharmaceutical companies cannot make economies of scale. NICE's promise to approve more drugs was in response to widespread anger over its rejection of sunitinib, also known as Sutent, for advanced kidney cancer - even though it had been proved to double the life expectancy of patients compared to standard treatments.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
European style socialism is headed our way....
When I had a rare form of cancer back in 1988 I was treated with very common and cheap chemos, however I was a stage 1 patient. I think the drugs which do not cure, but only extend life in stage III and IV are the ones which are very expensive. Sadly this will come to America sooner or later. Also count on drugs to treat AIDS, Hepatitis, and other chronic and terminal diseases to be denied.
AIDS is still "special" - it will always get funding.
AIDS is still “special” - it will always get funding.
That’s correct. Obamacare (or any variant thereof) must politicize behavior: certain kinds of risky personal behavior will be certified as “correct” (hence fundable); other kinds will be certified as “incorrect” (hence denied funding).
If I choose to engage in personally risky behavior by smoking, government health insurance will claim that I am choosing to bring on certain kinds of physical injury to myself, so it will deny insurance to me. But if my gay neighbor decides to have unprotected sex with 100 partners over the course of a year — though he is also engaging in risky behavior and choosing to bring on certain kinds of physical injury to himself — government will nevertheless insure him if and when he contracts HIV.
His risky behavior is politically correct; my risky behavior is politically incorrect.
If democrats pass their takeover of our health care system, everyone who loses a loved one due to being turned down for care, or who themselves is turned down for life saving care, will know exactly where to go to lay the blame.
Every democrat who votes for this takeover should be held accountable for their votes. They know this will lead to European style rationing and they know it will lead to the deaths to at least as many American citizens as the UK’s socialist (cost overrules saving your your life) health care has.
Yes, as it’s also politically incorrect to be pudgy but not to engage in buggery.
And there won’t be any life boat for even the wealthiest or (if you should happen to be a wealthophobe) sympathetic cases garnering strong charitable support. The US was the life boat until it drilled a hole in its bottom.
[ drilled a hole in its bottom ] pun not intended, honest!
That would be better known by its proper name, "death panel."
Sunitinib patients lived for a median of 26.4 months, compared with 21.8 months for IFN patients, although the difference was of borderline statistical significance.
Oh happy day. Our time would be much better spent on demanding that these pharma companies come up with something actually useful to treat cancer.
Look at the technical advances we have made in the last 30 years in all aspects of our lives. Also, consider the major advancements made in surgical techniques...which have actually saved hundreds of thousands of cancer patients.
Then, consider the performance of pharmaceutical companies in that time period. They have done exceptionally well at one thing: marketing ridiculous crap to a gullible population, while millions die of cancer, ALS, MS, and other diseases.
Don't worry though...you have your choice of a huge array of drugs for ED; why worry about that pesky period...you have dozens of choices to eliminate it.
However, nothing quite tops the incredible advancement in medical science that will allow you to grow longer and thicker eyelashes. Since pancreatic and bile duct cancer runs in my family, I have already decided that I will refuse treatment (they still use the same chemo drug that they have used for 40 years even though it has never worked)...and ask to get the eyelash drug. I want to look kickass in the coffin when they sew my eyes shut.
Certain portions of the medical and pharmaceutical industries are paid full price for abject failure...and this has been going on for years. That is really what is driving up medical costs in this country; and because we are stupid enough to keep paying them for failure while others have decided not to play the game, we are responsible for delaying innovative treatment for everyone.
There’s an Iyalian Doctor who says all you need is baking soda. He’s been saying that for a while, and was stripped of his medical license.
Then, son of a gun, early last year, articles start showing up of clinical trials that show that bicarbonate drastically inhibit metastases.
Who’d a thunk it?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19276390
Regarding sunitinib, or Sutent.
My father is taking this drug and our system is no better.
His co payment is $5000.00 (five thousand) For 2 cycles of 28 pills. It is 28 days on 14 off, so 3 months. He has worked his entire life and has insurance and medicare as he is 68. If he has to continue this treatment for the entire year that is 20k. Its a very bad situation to be in.
My father was in great health until November when he came down with flu like symptoms. Finally diagnosed with RCC end of December.
That’s 20,000 fewer they have to pay for now.
Don’t you worry now, under Obamacare your Federal government will have the power to make the same mistake, intentionally (because everyone will be subsidized in some way and they’ll do it to “save the taxpayers money” and because Obamacare will give them that authority).
Just take the blue pill, Mrs. Reid.
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