Father dies day after receiving breakthrough cancer drug he had battled for five months to get.

The Daily Mail ^ | 7/13/2013 | Daily Mail Reporter

[domeika]

A father-of-two died of cancer the day after a 'breakthrough' drug he had battled for nearly five months to get finally arrived in the post. The family of Stuart Cunningham, 51, were left heartbroken after he succumbed to the disease without getting the chance to try the drug, known as Afinitor. Used to treat kidney cancer, it is an option for patients who have not responded to Sunitinib, the primary drug used to fight the condition.

Mr Cunningham's wife, Tracy, said she was 'angry and frustrated' at the NHS, which refused to fund the Afinitor because it was not 'cost-effective'. --SNIP--

[domeika]

Socailized medicine sounds like it's working out real well in England. Can't wait till we get some of that here. </sarc>

[ScottinSacto]

All you have to do is read the comments on this article to see where we are headed. The Brits are already there and obviously are not happy about it. But full steam ahead anyway!

[tips up]

Donald Berwick must be pleased...

[MarkeyD]

Death Panel.

[VeniVidiVici]

Of course Obama says his socialized medicine scheme won’t have these Death Panels.

[MaggieCarta]

All you have to do is read the comments on this article to see where we are headed...

Actually, I was amazed to read this comment:

I don't see why the family did not fund the drug whilst waiting for the NHS appeal. If I needed a drug to prolong my life and the NHS refused to pay for it I would pay for it out of my own savings, and expect my family to pay out of what they would inherit from me.

The family seem to have waited a long time before acting. - kerry livermore, London, England, 13/7/2010 15:26

I thought that all of our British cousins had adopted the same repugnance to the idea of "user pays" that so many of our Canadian cousins seem to cling to.

[MEGoody]

Coming soon to the U.S.

[calex59]

I thought that all of our British cousins had adopted the same repugnance to the idea of "user pays" that so many of our Canadian cousins seem to cling to.

Actually what the Brit commenter seems to not know about his own NHS is that if a British subject funds their own treatment they are no longer eligible for NHS, so this guy would have gotten one dose of the drug and then been thrown off the NHS roles and how much of the drug could he afford?

Nationalized health is a death sentence to anyone who is old or has a disease that costs a little more than the government wants to pay.

[HiTech RedNeck]

I’ve lost track of the particulars of what socialized health care systems do not forbid purchasing drugs at full retail on the side. Seems some do and some don’t. It seems awfully chintzy to put your own life at a lower priority than getting your socialized medicine system to pay for whatever.

[HiTech RedNeck]

If kicked out of the NHS altogether this means a lot of medications would have to be paid out of pocket, not just the medication in question.

Can’t yank any of those puppet strings out of the hands of the death panels, ya know!

[bamahead]

so this guy would have gotten one dose of the drug and then been thrown off the NHS roles and how much of the drug could he afford?

Add to that the fact Brits are taxed at a 60%+ tax rate LARGELY TO FUND NHS. And your tax rate doesn't go down just because you get dropped from the NHS roles. So with that much of your income being confiscated, really...how much could you afford?

The vicious cycle of socialism.

[bamahead]

Mr Cunningham's wife, Tracy, said she was 'angry and frustrated' at the NHS, which refused to fund the Afinitor because it was not 'cost-effective'



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[faucetman]

Why didn't the gubmint pay for this drug? Did they have to go to the moon to get it? Isn't it just a bunch of chemicals?

[MaggieCarta]

...It seems awfully chintzy to put your own life at a lower priority than getting your socialized medicine system to pay for whatever.

No argument here.

Besides, he lived for 5 months apparently without any treatment. A properly motivated first year law student might make the case that but for receiving the "breakthrough" cancer drug, he would have lived.

[MaggieCarta]

Also see posts #9 & 14.

[Gondring]

Stuart, of Smalley, near Derby [...]