U.S. childhood cancer death rate declines sharply

Reuters via Yahoo ^ | 12-6-07 | Will Dunham

[Pharmboy]

Those durn folks in the pharmaceutical industry are at it again! /sar

More progress being made year by year, folks, although this news was even better than one might have expected.

[Pharmboy]

Hard to understand about the Hispanic data...legal or illegal, rich or poor, there is NO kid with cancer who will not get great care in this country.

[DoughtyOne]

R & D. That’s it in a nutshell. And that’s why we don’t want socialized medicine. Let the profit motive work it’s charms.

[Tax-chick]

there is NO kid with cancer who will not get great care in this country

Only if their parents take them the doctor or hospital.

[Pharmboy]

Exactly right. They do not touch on that directly, but cite “cultural differences.”

[KarlInOhio]

But wouldn’t Hillary’s five year plans work so much better than the profit motive. After all, it is far more pure hearted than the money grubbers in the drug industry. Why, just reading to children from Das Kapital will be more effective than any chemotherapy.

[Tax-chick]

It’s understandable. Many Spanish-speaking immigrants were poor, rural people in their home countries, and they’re often poor, rural people here. Access to the kind of medical care we have in the U.S. is a real novelty. Concern about immigration status is probably another factor

I wouldn’t be surprised if many of the Hispanic children who die from cancer aren’t diagnosed until they’re already terminal.

[DoughtyOne]

You’ve got a point there Karl. LOL...

[Does so]

"...And that’s why we don’t want socialized medicine..."

That's just mean-spirited! All cultures are equal, and this trend is unfair to the children of other countries.

/s

[aculeus]

Hard to understand about the Hispanic data...legal or illegal, rich or poor, there is NO kid with cancer who will not get great care in this country.

My guess: parents slower to ask for help than other ethnic groups.

[Pharmboy]

I think that’s right—too bad the articledidn’t emphasize that point.

[DoughtyOne]

This may not be a popular opinion, but it’s my take that a significant number of hispanic kid’s parents having escaped poverty and sub-standard living conditions in Mexico, the kids may show an outward manifestation as a result.

[DoughtyOne]

I steped in it now... /s

;-)

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

R & D. That’s it in a nutshell. And that’s why we don’t want socialized medicine. Let the profit motive work it’s charms.

Exactly. When Hillary et al speak of socialized medicine, the speak of "quality" health care - but the reality is that the government does not care about quality in the same way that the person who needs the good or service does.

The only thing which sustains quality is the ability of the "consumer" - the one who cares about quality - to reward quality and choose not to reward the lack thereof. Socialism is about reducing the price, and its natural tendency is to take away choice and leave the subject of its "benevolence" with shoddy goods, delivered too late to be of best utility.

[tbw2]

Nutrition is being shown to act as a preventative for cancer. I would wonder if there is a link to good prenatal nutrition and a similar protective effect for young children.
Could illegal immigration mean that there has been an importation of less nourished children be a factor in Hispanic rates not declining?

[tiki]

I can only speak for one hispanic child and there were no near-perfect donors. Thousands of people in our town would have tested but they told us that only hispanics should be tested. Maybe there aren’t many hispanics on the registry?

[SuziQ]

This is just excellent news for families all across America. A childhood friend of mine died of leukemia, when we were 9, and it was so hard on her family.

[bigjackattack]

sure , but I saw the michael moore film and I bet the little commie kids in cuba are doing even better

[SuziQ]

Hard to understand about the Hispanic data...legal or illegal, rich or poor, there is NO kid with cancer who will not get great care in this country.

The problem is likely caused by their parents not having the cancer detected as early as with most other kids. If they don't take them to the doctor when they see strange symptoms, the cancer may progress beyond the point at which pharmaceuticals, surgery, or chemo could help.

[VOA]

Those durn folks in the pharmaceutical industry are at it again! /sar

Or as I hear from some otherwise lovely folks...

Somehow, some EEEVVVIIILLL folks survived grad school and/or
pharmacy school...and actually took money for all the long days
and nights slaving away at the lab, enduring dead-ends for years
to finally find a cure that might cure a cancer in children.
D-mned robber-baron Big Pharma research grunts!!!

I have to admit, anyone that hasn't endured a graduate program in
biochem/mol. biol./pharmacy...may just not understand that.

And at the same time I admit...CURES COST.
And sometimes some leaches do elevate the cost.
Guys like John Edwards.
And those few sloppy clinicians that made Edward's fortune possible.