Wednesday, May 26, 2010

British ObamaCare update: Life-saving drug judged too expensive

Imagine this dreadful situation: You have liver cancer and there is a drug that will prolong your life. But the government-run health agency won't pay for it.

This could be America in 2020.

From the Daily Mail:

Hundreds of liver cancer patients will have their lives cut short by a ban on the only drug that can help them.

The NHS rationing body National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has refused an appeal to approve the use of Nexavar, despite evidence it can double life expectancy.
More...

Trials show patients taking Nexavar, which costs £3,000 a month, lived an average of seven months longer, double the time for those not taking it.

There are no alternative medicines to treat liver cancer, though some patients may undergo surgery. Around 3,000 each year are diagnosed with advanced liver cancer, with an estimated 600 eligible to try the drug.
That rationing body, which goes by the cruelly ironic acronym NICE, said of Nexavar, the "high cost could not be justified by its marginal benefit."

How much is your life worth?

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