NICE deny Leukemia Patients Life Saving Cancer Drugs - News Report

[carrigallen98]

This video has been brought to you by Bristol-Myers-Squibb.

He can still obtain the drugs through a variety of sources, including company patient assistance programs, expanded access programs, certain clinical trials.

Also, I think it is possible to get the drug in UK, if you progress on standard treatment.

[slurries]

any update on this?

stunning story, shocking stuff.

health systems are useless sometimes!

[Kevie26]

It's quite concering as I too have Chronic Myeloid Leukemia and Gleevec the standard bialogical therapy ony brought about a sub-optimal resonse, I was taking this for 6 months when I got the devistating news that it wasn't really working. I was then switched by my consultant at st barts hospital to Dasatinib (Sprycel) and in 6 months I have acheived a complete Cytogenetic remission and my last PCR was 0.01. I was diagnosed on 19/12/2008 aged 26. I hope this decision is overturned, Kevin.

[MrHistoryman45]

The problem has nothing to do with real popular control of health. It has everything to do with market values (i.e. a total lack of morality) intruding into the NHS. The very name NICE is a sick joke, for a vile organisation which exists to decide if those who can not afford private medicine are worthy of treatment. The betrayal of the most basic principles of the NHS is yet another count to be added to the indictment against New Labour.

[mamamia0709]

And there are American's that want to know why we shouldn't allow our government control of our healthcare system. Governments do not belong in the middle of our healthcare decisions because a bureaucracy can't handle making decisions on a case by case basis.

[hauskalainen]

@mamamia0709 In UK there are 3 ways to pay for medical drugs.

1. You pay the NHS ten dollars and the NHS pays the rest

2. You have insurance which pays less any deductibles/co-pays

3. You pay out of pocket.

Its the same in the U.S. except there is no option 1.

[mamamia0709]

@hauskalainen: And they pay exorbitant taxes and are running out of money to fund all of the programs paid for with those taxes. First they raise the college tuitions, which apparently the people of the UK are not happy about, what's next-medical care will begin to be defunded because governments cannot supply everything to everyone. I for one, don't want them to.

[hauskalainen]

@mamamia0709

UK NHS costs per capita are about 90 billion pounds for 60 million people which is about 1,500 pounds per head of population or an average tax load of 200 U.S. dollars per month per person.

[hauskalainen]

@mamamia0709

If you can buy health insurance in the U.S. with no doctor or hospital copay and a ten dollar prescription drug copay ($0 for cancer drugs) and a drug formulary that will pay out up to $45,000 per year for a single drug for less than $200 a month I'd like to know which State you live in. 

[hauskalainen]

@mamamia9709

United Health Care

Fla family. Male 40 (smokes), Female 35 (non-smoker), with 1 female child of 12.

0% copay, $1000 deductible.

Annual cost is $15,000

Compare to England's taxes of $6,700

[hauskalainen]

@mamamia0709 Our "exhoribitant" health care taxes are way below what Americans pay for health care in lost wages (employer sponsored care) or in direct payments, So how can they be exhorbitant? In the UK college fees used to be NIL. Were they ever NIL dollars in America. Yeah, students have a ríght to get mad,. They cannot and will not defund health care - it would be political suicide and no party would do so. Not even the conservatives. We get real services for our taxes.

[hauskalainen]

@mamamia0709 Oh.... and with the NHS the vast majority of cancer drugs ARE funded and there is NO ten dollar co-pay because cancer drugs are totally free to NHS patients.

[mamamia0709]

@hauskalainen  So, your point is that this video is inaccurate? And to your point, nothing the NHS is "free" to anyone. The money comes from the people through taxation.

[hauskalainen]

@mamamia0709

The video is OK but comments claiming there is government "interference" in England is totally inaccurate. Brits have THE SAME choices as Americans except we have an extra choice. U get free NHS whether u pay income tax. Purchase taxes are not applied to food, housing or utility bills.