Adventures in Gov't-Run Health (S)care: Tough Titties for 33-y.o. British Woman

Vocal Minority, via Mark Levin et al. ^ | 4/1/10 | EricTheRed

[EricTheRed_VocalMinority]

Rhetoric: “In Britain, the government itself runs the hospitals and employs the doctors. We’ve all heard scare stories about how that works in practice; these stories are false. Like every system, the National Health Service has problems, but over all it appears to provide quite good care …” — Paul Krugman, NY Times, August 17, 2009

Reality: From yesteday’s U.K. Daily Mail:

Cancer survivor refused breast reconstruction operation after NHS officials dismiss it as ‘cosmetic surgery’
By Liz Hull | Last updated at 12:57 AM on 01st April 2010

A cancer sufferer has condemned the NHS ‘ postcode lottery’ after health chiefs refused to fund her breast reconstruction.

Mother-of-four Patsy Parsons had a large section of her left breast removed when she was diagnosed two years ago and was told she was entitled to have it rebuilt free of charge.

But despite being recommended for a £5,000 bilateral breast augmentation operation — complex surgery which involves inserting implants and uplifting both breasts — by her consultant, the local primary care trust refused to fund it.

It said her operation is ‘low priority, routine’ cosmetic surgery, which is paid for by the NHS only in exceptional circumstances.

Last night Mrs Parsons — who has four children aged between two and 14 with her labourer husband, Robert, 35 — said she was the victim of a