NICE Nixes Cancer Drug

by Dave Blount | September 10, 2009 1:19 pm

A day doesn’t go by without a story from Britain warning us not to let bureaucrats push us over the cliff into socialized medicine. Today’s tale of terror[1]:

A drug that significantly extends life expectancy for patients with liver cancer is set to be refused by the government’s health watchdog.

Nexavar increases survival rates by 44 per cent and without it, the only option for patients is supportive and palliative care to make their final months less painful.

However, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) is set to refuse to make it available on the NHS.

In the UK, there are approximately 2,800 new diagnoses of primary liver cancer made every year and the disease is responsible for causing around 2,800 deaths annually.

In May this year when NICE published their preliminary findings into the drug, they said that the drug “would not be a cost-effective use of NHS resources”.

It’s bad losing 2,800 taxpayers to fleece, but good for the healthcare system to have 2,800 fewer mouths to feed, and people debilitated by liver cancer produce less tax loot anyway. The NICE bureaucrats decided who will die accordingly.

On a tip from Gore Blimey. Cross-posted at Moonbattery[2].

Endnotes:
  1. tale of terror: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090909/tuk-cancer-drug-hopes-to-be-dashed-dba1618.html
  2. Moonbattery: http://www.moonbattery.com/

Source URL: https://rightwingnews.com/health/nice-nixes-cancer-drug/