Scott Gottlieb wonders whether her treatment would have been as aggressive:
While recent trends in cancer survival cannot be ascribed to the new drugs alone, it is undeniable that more effective, less toxic medicines are having real impact.Yet these improvements are not being realized around the world. Europe should be sharing in the progress against cancer, but large bureaucracies have been erected to contain costs, by slowing the introduction of new drugs and restricting how doctors can use them.
Unfortunately, some people want to import the European model here into the U.S. — and in some cases it has already arrived. One current bill on “sole-source” or very unique drugs would make Medicare more like Europe, tying access to decisions on pricing.
Related posts:
- Elizabeth Edwards and Tony Snow: False hope?
- Elizabeth Edwards’ breast cancer
- Europe banning MRIs?
- The medical blogosphere on Elizabeth Edwards’ cancer
- Medicare and denying access to drugs
- Physician salaries
- "Canada’s health-care system is heartless and uncaring"
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{ 4 comments }
Because she has insurance, has money, and is in the USA, she can expect the best of the best. BUT, how about is she had no insurance and no money, like million sof Americans. Then she would be worse off then the average Canadian woman, of British woman, or French Woman. One cannot use Elizabeth Edwards as a symbol that promotes the US system.
She is one of the special people who would have access to the best no matter where she lived, even if it were technically illegal.
In Europe she would simply see a private physician under private insurance or out of pocket. It is only when people are prohibited from purchasing health care with their own money that problems arise.
Europe will NOT pay for chemo treatments for stage IV breast cancer, thats a fact.
Now if you got money to afford the $40,000 chemo treatments on your own, then you can get it, but the public system wont pay for it.
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