PrintYour life just might not be worth much
Holly Pitt Young highlighted Nat Hentoff's retort to Nobel Economics Prize winner Paul Krugman's use of...whoops! Sarah Palin's aptly named death panels in a cost/benefit discussion of the use of certain drugs and/or surgical techniques in the coming health care deformity of Obamacare. As she noted, next week
the Food and Drug Administration will determine whether insurance and Medicare should provide breast cancer patients and their doctors the option of using Avastin -- a late-stage cancer drug that has been proven to extend life. Should the FDA deny coverage for the drug because of its cost, it will be apparent that Krugman and his ilk are winning to battle to ration care in America. Rest assured we are watching the outcome.
Keep watching Ms. Young. Like any drug against a deadly disease, Avastin isn't perfect; the New York Times had an extensive analysis of its promise and problems.
And thanks to the Obamacare deformity, here's another kicker--Avastin will probably be more expensive.
one company, Genentech, said that, because of the new law, it would not offer discounts on certain cancer medicines like Avastin, Herceptin, Rituxan and Tarceva, or on Activase, which is used to dissolve blood clots in heart attack and stroke patients.
Meanwhile on Wednesday, back in not so merry broke England, the British death panel in charge of health rationing, the ironically named NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) rejected Avastin
"Unfortunately, we did not receive any evidence from the manufacturer to show that bevacizumab (Avastin) can significantly lengthen a patient's life or, importantly, offer a better quality of life than existing treatments," NICE Chief Executive Andrew Dillon said.
Oh?
President Obama's (D) recess appointment of, Dr. Donald Berwick, of the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, is a great admirer of the British system and a rationing proponent .
Yes indeed, Sarah Palin can not only see Russia from her house she can see England, she can see the future. And it is frightening.
