Posted on 08/06/2008 9:02:59 PM PDT by bruinbirdman
Cancer patients are to be denied drugs which could keep them alive after the NHS rationing watchdog ruled that they are too expensive.
Patient groups said the decision, announced today by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice), would condemn many sufferers of kidney cancer to an "early death".
Four prohibited medicines include Sutent, which can prolong life in kidney cancer patients by up to two years.
Nice said the drugs were too expensive, at about £24,000/year per patient, for the benefits they offered and would mean the health service was less able to afford more cost-effective drugs for other illnesses. However, the decision reignites the debate around how the NHS prioritises which drugs are approved for use.
It comes just a week after Andrew Dillon, the chief executive of Nice, said smokers and the obese should not be denied NHS medication because of their lifestyle.
Following Nice's latest decision, one surgeon said there would be no point in accepting kidney cancer patients if he was not able to prescribe Sutent because so few respond to other treatments.
Prof John Wagstaff, from the South West Wales Cancer Institute, in Swansea, said: "The possibility that we clinicians may be prevented from offering Sutent to our patients is an outrage.
"This decision will mean that the UK will have the poorest survival figures [for the cancer] in Europe."
Prof Peter Littlejohns, Nice's clinical and public health director, said: "Although these treatments are clinically effective, regrettably the cost to the NHS is such that they are not cost-effective use of NHS resources." He added that the organisation had to make some of the "hardest" decisions in public life.
Around 7,000 patients are diagnosed with kidney cancer in Britain every year. The disease progresses to advanced stage in around 1,700 cases annually.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Forgot to add the most IMPORTANT part. For one of those people the MEDICAL COMPANY provided the live-extending drug free of charge since the state of Oregon would not cover it.
Absolutely. Health care costs become a political football like energy policy. Before long nothing new is approved, high cost care is axed and the only bills that go through are filled with pork for political buddies and bureaucratic administrators.
"Bridge to Nowhere Healthcare!"
MEDICAL COMPANY = the drug manufacturer. (Apologies. I’m struggling a little this morning.)
Well, just as long as it is free, why complain?
Give them all aspirins.
Of course, abortion and the slaughter of the unborn will be fully paid for by the Gubmint.
So will HIV treatment for homosexuals.
Pancreatic Cancer surgery for smokers, fat asses and beer drinkers?
No. The bureaucrats said so.
Until April 15th, that is.
Completely empathize w/your go 'round with the aptly-acronymed BS. My FIL is Military Retired Disabled and has to deal with the VA, so I understand the frustration.
Still, with the continued existence of private-sector insurance, at least there's a range of choices out there. You wouldn't get THAT with anything government run.
In my life I've been covered by Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Met Medical, and some other now-defunct company that was actually really decent, under both HMO and PPO type plans. With just about every plan I've had, sometimes things were a hassle. Met Mdical I don't think EVER got a single claim paid out correctly, nor on time; my wife had to bird-dog them on the phone about nearly everything. But, they did pay out eventually, and in full, so it ended well.
Never been cornered into taking a Kaiser plan; I think I'd opt for a plan run by ol' Jim Jones before I'd do that, but even they're a lot better than anything you'd get from an Uncle Sam plan.
Count your blessings; even if you only need one hand to do it.
Who are they to say who lives or dies?
yitbos
Wonder how they do for dialysis.
By mother, bless her at 86, found out today, after years of failing kidneys, that she will need to begin dialysis in two weeks.
Private insurance, 65 years worth, will cover the entire cost.
yitbos
I know I’m just responding to one partidular situation. I really don’t know this topic very well. Just my own experience. But it’s a serious situation for me.
This is what we’re going to have if Obama gets commie healthcare passed.
Paging Michael Moore!
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