Canadian Death Panel Denies Man Life Saving Drug

Trollolo

Trollolo

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Alright, Death Panel might have been used to get a few more views. But in reality, thats essentially whats going on here. Government deciding whether or not you live or die based on cost.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/04/10/bc-expensive-drug-denied.html

"A 22-year-old North Vancouver man has said he is facing a death sentence because B.C. will not fund the only medical treatment that could save him.

Garrett Shakespeare's red blood cells have a protein deficiency that causes his immune system to attack them, but the drug to treat it effectively costs $500,000 a year.

Shakespeare's rare blood disorder is known as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, or PNH, and besides the symptoms of excruciating abdominal and kidney pain, it causes blood clots that could kill him.

Shakespeare takes a variety of medications, including the steroid Prednisone, to manage the symptoms, but they don't work that well, he said. And one blood clot in the wrong place could be fatal.

"A report said that 50 per cent of people with PNH die within 10 years of diagnosis," he said.

Shakespeare was diagnosed when he was 11, almost 12 years ago.

Shakespeare said his doctor has petitioned the province's pharmaceutical board for an exemption that would allow him to get the drug, Soliris, through the B.C. Ministry of Health. Soliris is the only drug that can treat the underlying cause of PNH. The petition was denied.

Better outlook elsewhere

Barry Katsof, the president of the Canadian Association of PNH patients, has the disorder as well. But Katsof is living a normal life free of symptoms in Quebec, where the provincial government covers the cost of Soliris.

"It's incredible that governments in Canada are refusing to pay for this treatment when it's been proven to save lives," Katsof said.

Katsof said Canada is the only country in the developed world that refuses to fund Soliris because of the cost.

"You can't get a cost-effective model in a rare disease drug because there's so few people in the economic model," he said.

"The bottom line is: this drug has been proven to save lives. It's very black-and-white," Katsof said.

For now, Shakespeare tries to maintain an active life. He works as a DJ and is also a lifeguard and swim coach at the North Vancouver Recreation Centre.

"I try to stay really busy but it's hard because of the anemia," he said.

"I'm just tired a lot, and the pain is really frustrating to deal with all the time."

Not trying to say our health care system is terrible, or to endorse any one countries policy. The states doesn't exactly have it right either. Then again, they can't really switch to a single payer system since, no offense, but 3/4 of the people there are obese and don't take of themselves. I could see some sort of "fat-warfare" civil war battle rising up against the slobs. Then again, people in shape would be greatly outnumbered and might not want to fight it. Anyway. inb4 this thread gets to 5 pages.
 
This made me LOL

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$500000 a year for the rest of his life for 1 person!? That is insane, do you know the strain and ultimate destruction this would cause to our health system?
 
i like how when in america we want to keep healthcare private to avoid having to pay for our overflowing obesity problem, but in canada they simply deny a man his life due to cost.

and we're the barbarians right?
 
its somewhat of a fiar argument, thats tens of millions of dollars for one person, when that money could be used to save many people. On the other hand, i think he should get the treatment because its public healthcare and thats what its their for.
 
well shit whats he gonna do then?

if you dont wanna pay for him to live why do you get free healthcare then? are you worth more to your country?

this my friend is the problem with socialism, every body wants everything until someone needs more than others then they cant have it.

the system based on being the most fair for everyone is the least fair for a select group.
 
bahaha, death panel because they won't shovel out 500k a year to keep him alive... whoever posted this, you are a fucking retard. maybe you should take a trip to the US...
 
what you dont understand here, is that this doesnt really bother me. what bothers me is that in canada there is an assumption based on paying taxes to fund a health care system that you'll be taken care of.

this guy pays taxes just like everyone else but is being excluded. thats fuckin bullshit.

in america at least you have a chance at getting health coverage and its on your own plate to do so, its not meant to be given to you by default but then pulled out from under you.
 
Sorry but I do not believe anyone should be denied the right to live just because they cannot afford a drug. 500,000 dollars a year from the taxpayers is absolutely nothing. more of my taxpayer dollars go to absolutely worthless shit. We totally have enough money to shell out 500g a year to keep a man alive. I mean fuck, we probably spend ten times that keeping murderers alive in prison.

 
lol does your health insurance cover a 500 thousand dollar cost? can you afford a 500 thousand dollar medication? would your government gunna step in and help you out? does survival of the fittest mean anything to you? are you really as goofy as you look in your pictures?

 
honestly, everything with the complications from my arm was probably over 500 grand and im damn lucky that my parents pay for health insurance which im covered by.

my government would not help me, nor would i expect it too.

i dont really understand the third question?

i dunno how goofy i look but i probably get more pussy than you do.

k thx bai.
 
i think the outrageous price for this drug should be the focus here.

i don't really see where the government gets off on dooming a guy to death, but not letting a terminal ill patient end their life.
 
That's a pretty damned one-sided article. I wonder if they asked anyone from BC Health or any other agency about it. Normally if they had it would at least say "we asked such and such but they declined to comment" or something.
 
I would think they would have coverage caps? Ie, pay for the drug up to $1mil total (ie 2 years in this case) and after that you're on your own? I don't know much about american medical insurance policies.
 
i think it depends on your insurance.

i know cancer patients rack this kind of bill up pretty fast but they're covered.

with my arm it was easily this much and nothing was ever said, but then again it wasnt half a mil for X years, which i suppose could be a different story.

my gut feeling is that provided you have a good program you would be ok, youd cost them money and theyd hate you but i don't think they could really do anything about it.
 
the amount of people that are that much of an expense to the system is low though. its not like they are paying that for every single fucking person in the country
 
You always hear that buzzphrase "pre-existing condition", don't know if this would apply for that exemption because it's genetic? I'm sure most insurance companies would try their damndest to find some basis on which to deny coverage, speaking as someone who's been working for insurance co's lately (not medical obviously).
 
LOL No0b. Read the first line of what I wrote. I clearly put Death Panel in the title to get a reaction out of people. But in reality, there are a panel of people in government that get to decide whether lives or dies. "death panel" sounds extreme, but its pretty much the case.
 
well, i know an insurance company would not pick him up based on this.

but an employer offered insurance program as part of benefits would pick him up.

like for me, i have a pretty serious blood condition so i couldnt really go insurance shopping, which does take a part in my career goals, having a "benefits" insurance plan is gonna be pretty important for me.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but up here the guv'ment doesn't cover the cost of medications. You need insurance for that.
 
500k a year could save thousands in africa or haiti or nicaragua. I mean this sucks and all i definatly feel for the guy. But then i guess not too many of us can talk because we dont got his disease
 
Evidently it's not going to kill him immediately if he's been alive 12 years since diagnosis. Maybe they don't see it as life threatening given his ability to keep on truckin since his diagnosis.
 
if they dont spend it on him its not like they'll spend it on helping japan or something...

also, 500k is pocket change for a government, hell if they fired one of the guys on the "death panel" they could probably keep this guy going with the savings.
 
there is obviously more at play here than the guy simply being refused the medication... people get provided expensive medical treatment all the time (ie. liver transplant which costs at least 300k... nevermind the follow up and recovery).
 
yeah but if youre prepared to offer $500,000 per year to one dude for meds, you better be prepared to offer it to everyone, which just isn't feasible.
 
I wouldn't say this is a failing of the health care system so much as a failing of society to allow a drug company to charge this much for a life-saving medication. I'm sure they spend a lot of time and money developing the drug but come on...500k?
 
There is nothing he can do unfortunately, and no I dont think im worth more than him, I just have the common sense that if that was me i should just stick with my alternative cheaper plan. 500000 a year for the rest of his life is asinine, if it was a one shot deal i would have no problem with it.
 
Meanwhile, in the USA, his healthcare insurance would have denied him prednisone when he was 11 because it was a 'pre existing condition' and he would have died when he was 13.
If you guys are going to give Canada bullshit over this, then name a country that would be able to afford that in the first place?
How the FUCK is a medication worth half a million per year? what's the active ingredient? dinosaur bones?
 
Pretty much.. I just looked up the statistics of this drug... lets just say it hasn't actually been administered to very many people, ANYWHERE... most of which were people who were either given it during clinical trials for the drug, or had ridiculous healthcare coverage.
It's sales were 295million$ last year. Divide that by 500k. that means that around 600 people have actually been able to afford this treatment in the last 2 years WORLDWIDE. The disease is rare, but not as rare as others. over 8000 americans have this disorder, obviously most are not on Soliris treatment.

Forbes ranks it the most expensive drug in the world by a pretty wide margin.
 
"Alexion spokesman Irving Adler said the high price of Soliris reflects several factors, "including an $800 million investment to develop the drug," as well as a 15-year investment of time. "
That's what I found after researching it.
 
this,

when I broke my back I put probably around 1-1.5 million on health care, but that was a one shot deal, this guy would go on to live to... lets say, 77.5. he is 22 now. that is 55.5 years of 1 million a year. I hate to say it, but I think the government could do better things than spend 55.5 million to keep one guy alive. in addition to this, as stated above. the Government does not pay for medications (except for FN status). The Insurance companies would have every lawyer in their employment looking for a loophole to drop his coverage if he was american. so, as stated above "that guy is screwed no matter what country he lives in" sad but true.
 
He doesn't NEED the drug to live, yes it would potentially improve his livelihood although it is not needed to continue life, therefore there are moral grounds to say that he cannot have the drug. I personally think the government made the right decision
 
I just see this more as a problem of our monetary system, and the dependance on putting a price on everything.

All medical and pharmaceutical companies should operate as non-profit organizations IMHO.
 
sometimes i wish i was a billionaire. i would get the man his meds .. fucking canadian bastards. hope someone balls up and helps the dude, poor guy. there are plenty of way rich people who could afford to save his life, i for one ( if i was rich) would jump at this oppurtunity to help someone out. to bad im broke and dont have a billion bucks....... shit sucks .
 
nice utilitarian viewpoint there

what if the one person was your dad? how would that change your mind?

also, what did the guy do to get in there in the first place

 
haha ya if this guy lived in America it would be his insurance company fucking him over instead. And about the pharma companies being not for profit. The shitty thing is we need them to be competing so they keep researching and developing to come out with these drugs. If there's no incentive, unfortunately there's no drugs. Its the way the system works.
 
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