In Canada, Unequal Access to Cancer Drugs Creates A 'Postal-Code Lottery' to Get Treatment
GLOBE AND MAIL -- "In Canada, what some provinces consider standard treatment isn't offered to patients in other parts of the country.
Unequal access to cancer drugs – a long-standing issue for patients and oncologists –was to be remedied with the creation of the Joint Oncology Drug Review, to which all provinces but Quebec belong. Despite JODR's formation in March, 2007, the funding of some cancer drugs remains unequal across the country.
“Here in Canada, it's still a postal-code lottery for cancer drugs,” said Bill Hryniuk, past chairman of the Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada."
4 Comments:
We've all heard stories about how bad Canada's health care system is. Does anyone have any information, or stories about countries where we hear universal health care is supposedly good - i.e., France or Germany. In anyone has has any good info. "model systems," I would greatly appreciate it.
Just Curious.
The question is in the US is it an insurance company lottery, or do they mostly follow medicare?
"In anyone has has any good info. "model systems," I would greatly appreciate it."
I suggest you Google Singapore health care and spend a little time reading. They have an excellent health care system.
In Canada, as in the USA, health care is a provincial/state responsibility. Unequal "free" access to cancer drugs happens because there is considerable debate about the efficacy of these expensive treatments and each province is entitled to allocate health care dollars where they will do the most good. If there is a problem it is the fact that political pressure may cause some provinces to pay for ineffective treatments. All legal treatments are available, the debate is who will pay.
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