by Volecia Plafcan

Created on: June 01, 2011   Last Updated: June 03, 2011

Governments should pay for the high cost of new drugs.  Some drugs are so expensive, and considering the type disease they were manufactured for, the patient should as soon, accept he cannot afford it and look forward to a miserable remaining ailing life.

Is it fair that the government grants funding to doctors, researchers, drug companies and others involved in getting the drug on the market?  Certainly not, knowing that the patient will not be able to afford it and even then, it's not certain the drug will be successful in curing anyone who just might be able to afford it.

Most patients cannot afford even to see a doctor without the help of state or federal governments.  Of course, there are community hospitals, where patients can be seen free, etc. but, they are still funded by the government.

New drugs have been tested.  On rats or the likes.  Therefore, new drugs are still being researched.  Patients who cannot afford these new high cost drugs are hospitalized and the drug is used on them for research, rumor has it.

A certain man, who was a member of our family, developed lung cancer even though he stopped smoking twenty-five years prior to being diagnosed.  He worked for the federal government and had good insurance.

He saw some of the finest doctors and his oncologist had been quite successful with most of his patients going into remission under his care.

Things were not working out with my brother-in-law concerning his cancer and the doctor decided to try a different drug on him which would have cost me an arm and a leg.

Living out of town and sad anyway that he was so sick, the financial part never entered my mind but, when they told me about it, my jaw dropped.

To use this drug, he was required to pay five thousand dollars, up front.  After that, the insurance paid around thirty thousand a month.  As I said, I didn't know about their financial situation so, whether or not there was a co-pay is beyond me.

Sure, the government paid for the chemo, but, he had worked for them all his life and kept the premiums paid.

There are patients with cancer who just cannot afford chemotherapy.  Even though, it seems high for the cost of my brother-in-law's chemo, he had no assurance that it would work. I do often wonder why the five thousand was required and where it went.

I realize cancer is not the only disease that requires medication.  There are heart and lung patients, little children with cancer, etc. but, if you can't pay for it, some non-profit organizations will help you a bit.

However, if the government can afford to send billions to this country and billions to that country - what about it's own sick people?

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