Free Market Kills Cancer Patients

[babylonsister]

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2007/7/14/115741/332

Free Market Kills Cancer Patients

by Steven D
Sat Jul 14th, 2007 at 12:48:26 PM EST

How could that most cherished ideal of capitalism, the "free market" ever do anyone harm? It's the magic bullet, after all, according to conservatives, the engine of all progress, the ultimate hope for mankind. If only big government would get out of its way and let the market work its wonders, the world would be a veritable paradise.

Well, here's how the "free market" works when the lives of cancer patients are at stake, and in particular the lives on non-Hodgin's Lymphoma patients for which two miracle drugs exist which can save lives, if (and how big an if that is will be demonstrated shortly) those afflicted with this killer disease can get access to them (via the New York Times):

After an hourlong infusion, Linda Stephens, 58, has been cancer-free for seven years. Dan Wheeler, three years. Betsy de Parry, five years. Before treatment, all three had late-stage non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system, and a grim prognosis.

All three recovered after a single dose of Bexxar or Zevalin, both federally approved drugs for lymphoma. And all three can count themselves as lucky. <...>

Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma is the fifth most common cancer in the United States, with 60,000 new cases and almost 20,000 deaths a year. But fewer than 2,000 patients received Bexxar or Zevalin last year, only about 10 percent of those who are suitable candidates for the drugs.

“Both Zevalin and Bexxar are very good products,” said Dr. Oliver W. Press, a professor at the University of Washington and chairman of the scientific advisory board of the Lymphoma Research Foundation. “It is astounding and disappointing” that they are used so little. The reasons that more patients don’t get these drugs reflect the market-driven forces that can distort medical decisions, Dr. Press and other experts on lymphoma treatment say. A result can be high costs but not necessarily the best care.

Michael Moore, thank you. I doubt the New York Times would have bothered to cover this story until Sicko was released. And this report demonstrates how accurate and timely Sicko has proven to be.

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