Wednesday, August 06, 2008

Bleeding heart

Terminally Ill Denied Drugs for Life, But Can Opt for Suicide


That's the headline.

What the headline and opening paragraphs lead you to think is that a greedy insurance company refused to pay for drugs that would extend her life six months, and instead offered her a much cheaper assisted suicide.

Sounds like the insurance company should be sued for a billion dollars right? I'll grant that it was sort of disgusting to offer assisted suicide, unsolicited. But that's a tough spot for the insurance company, the woman's definitely going to die, and probably it's going to be painful, maybe she is interested. However, as I continued to read, the article revealed some facts that paint quite a different picture than the headline:

A lifelong smoker, she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2005 and quit.

The median survival among patients who took erlotinib was 6.7 months compared to 4.7 months for those on placebo. At one year, 31 percent of the patients taking erlotinib were still alive compared to 22 percent of those taking the placebo.

So basically the woman smoked herself into lung cancer and now expects everyone else to foot a $27,000 bill for a drug that increases survival time by two months.

Sorry lady, I was once a smoker. If I got diagnosed with lung cancer tomorrow, I'd know it was 100% my own fault, and I would not be crying foul when the insurance companies forced me to deal with my own mess. If you had wanted insurance on being a lifelong smoker, you would not have not been able to afford it. Well, maybe you would have, if you hadn't spent the money on cigarettes. I don't blame the company one iota for not covering you.

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