Kidney Cancer Drug Decision – Not N-I-C-E

As a non-political/apolitical type its not in my nature to type especially powerful opinions when it comes to government matters, nevertheless however once again our UK method is letting the population down. Unless they do some thing pretty radical and step in I worry we’re heading for a denationalised health technique exactly where it really is “every man or woman for themselves”….. fundamentally the wealthiest get to live, the rest can go fish.

A selection on the 4 major new kidney cancer drugs Avastin, Nexavar, Sutent and Torisel is due to be produced by N.I.C.E at the starting of 2009. Offered how successful these drugs have been across the globe in extending the lifes of patients it would have seemed a no brainer decision for a so known as developed western country like the UK. Nevertheless a memo has been leaked suggesting that the choice will be unfavorable and that these drugs are not expense efficient and will not be accessible on the NHS. Can you picture how devastating this news is to the 1700 folks/year that are diagnosed with advanced kidney cancer.

I know we all hear the phrase “what’s the expense of a life?”, and we all equally know that this is impossible to quantify, nonetheless, lets step back a bit and appear at what the NHS initially set out to accomplish. I believe the mission statement went something like this:

Everyone, irrespective of means, age, sex or occupation shall have equal opportunity to benefit from the greatest and most up-to-date medical and allied solutions available…totally free of charge

I might have got the quote incorrect, however, your get the gist. So, we have clinically confirmed drugs, suggested by the leading kidney cancer specialists in this nation, utilised worldwide, particularly in the US exactly where they are prescribed as a matter of course. However somehow in the UK this idiotic group of men and women known as N.I.C.E chose to ignore all that and put a expense on a human life at “Some thing beneath £30,000/year”

These individuals are beneath contempt and have no moral backbone, all possibly with private health care cover and therefore will by no means have to suffer the indignity of getting to fight for the right to a drug that will extend their lives …. Shame on them, and shame on the fools that set this group up in the initial location. It should be run by those who have the interest of the patients at heart, not the pockets of the government accountants.

I was equally as outraged by the response from my nearby labour MP in Watford, Claire Ward who decided the finest issue I could do was to get in touch with Cancer Research as this wasn’t a government concern and was a decision for N.I.C.E and the PCTs…. Properly heaven help us if this is how our elected MPs respond.

Im stuck in an airport at the moment but will write far more on the subject and attempt and spread the word by employing write-up websites as they appear to raise awareness.

I am even so glad to see that the Instances and the BBC wrote news items on this, they’re properly worth checking out.