How much does it cost to save a person's life? Are most expensive drugs made only to save people at the brink of death? Life is what people live for.
In the field of medical science, experts are finding all the possible ways to promote health and to save lives. Searching for ways greatly needs advanced technologies; and they all come with a price. But the question is at what cost are people willing to pay for the drugs and technologies?
For example, cancer is a very costly disease. It will probably consume most financial sources of the patient and the patient's support system. Recently, a new cancer drug was made. Kadcyla is the new drug's name. The surprising fact about this drug is it costs £90,000 per patient. Should the National Health Service in UK find this too pricey for a cancer drug?
According to Gizmodo, Kadcyla shows that it may extend life expectancy by six months. For patients, extending their life by six months is a taste of heaven, like a ray of sunshine. There are countries facing a difficult time assessing the cost-effectiveness of new drugs and technologies.
A certain mathematical process known as QALY is used by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) as basis for deciding the efficacy and the cost of a new drug. The mathematical process shows that commonly medical treatments towards the final stages of life are more expensive and they may not assure the betterment of a person's life.
Base on a UK study, people did not consider the treatments given at the end of life. They were more concerned on the effectiveness of the drugs or any other treatments rather than when the treatment took effect in life. This only shows that funding of health systems to expensive life-extending treatments may not be important to people.
It's time for the countries' health systems to ponder on things worth funding for. Patients just want to spend more time with loved ones without thinking about arduous treatments.
